Author
Julie Ann Rodriguez
Common Name(s)
Largeseed forget-me-not
Electronic links
Plant Profile in Plants Database http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MYMA
Ecology
Alluvial woods and fields.
Family
Boraginaceae (Borage Family)
Flowering period
March- May
Flowers
Calyx accrescent, densely uncinate pubescent (hirsute) externally, glabrous internally, 5-lobed, zygomorphic. Lobes attenuate, the longest to 2 mm in flower (longer in fruit). Calyx tube to 2 mm long in flower, longer in fruit.
Corolla white, funnelform, glabrous, slightly zygomorphic, 3 mm broad, 3 mm long, 5-lobed. Longest lobes to 1.2 mm long, 1mm broad, truncate at apex. Fornices small, included in the throat of the corolla.
Stamens 5, adnate above the base of the corolla tube. Filaments minute, 0.1 mm long. Anthers brownish, 0.5 mm long.
Ovary 4-lobed, subtended by a green nectary. Lobes green, glabrous, lenticular, to .3mm in diameter, with a slightly winged margin, expanding to +2 mm in diameter in fruit. Style exserted from between ovary lobes, green, 0.7 mm long, glabrous, included. Stigma bilobed.
Fruit
Mericarps ca. 2 mm long, usually enclosed by a bur-like calyx.
Geographic distribution
Maryland to Illinois and Missouri, southward to Texas and Florida.
Heads/Capitula
Annual or biennial, stems erect, usually unbranched, 2-8 dm tall, pubescent with stiff, mostly straight hairs.
Leaves
Cauline leaves alternate, sessile, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, to 6 cm long. Basal leaves spatulate, approximately 6 cm long. Margins entire, apex acute, midrib single, distinct. Pubescence on both surfaces with stiffish hairs.
Plant and Stem Features
Annual or biennial, stems erect, usually unbranched, 2-8 dm tall, pubescent with stiff, mostly straight hairs.
References
Correll, D. S., M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. Texas Research Foundation, Renner, Texas.
Radford, A. E., H. E. Ahles, C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
USDA, NRCS. 2006. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 27 April 2007).
Species name
Juncus elliottii Chapman