Myosotis scorpoides

2652 Views 11 Replies 5 Participants Last post by AaronT, Jul 28, 2005

Cavan Allen

Discussion Starter · May 27, 2005 (Edited)

Myosotis scorpioides

A few of us collected some local plants from the edge of a large pond earlier this month. This was one of them. At the time of collection, the pictured plant (actually several stems by now) was an inch high and emersed. For almost a month, we had no idea what it was.

I returned yesterday and found some small but incredibly vivid blue flowers. Thumbing through a wildflower handbook revealed it to be Myosotis scorpioides.

It has absolutely no trouble adapting to submersed life. It looks somewhat like Hygrophila polysperma but has a thicker stem, a chalky green color similar to Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides, and a very unusual coiled leaf arrangement.

Please forgive the photo quality! It was taken under less than ideal conditions...

Without googling it, can anyone give the common name of this plant?

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omega

· #2 · May 27, 2005

Google has several common names but "Forget me not" is the name that I'm familiar with because Home Depot has it for sale every year. I didn't know it's an aquatic plant.

Learn something new every day. :mrgreen:

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Cavan Allen

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 27, 2005

That's it! I was pretty surprised myself.

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Urkevitz

· #4 · Jul 20, 2005

Is it still surviving?

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Cavan Allen

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 20, 2005

Yes, it is. He's had to cut it back a few times. It isn't a really fast growing plant, but it does quite well.

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brad

· #6 · Jul 20, 2005

Is there a trick to acclimating this plant to submersed life? Do you need to do it while plant is young or can I simply plop the plant underwater?

I've tried collecting quite a few plants locally without much success. They just seem to slowly die. I'm trying again tonight and we'll see how it goes. Any tips would be appreciated.

Brad

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AaronT

· #7 · Jul 21, 2005

Don't heat the tank you put locally collected plants in. Chances are they don't like the warmer temps.

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Cavan Allen

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 21, 2005

Some can handle it, and some can't. There's only one way to find out. This stuff is growing in Bob's tank at about 76-78F. Locally collected Ludwigia palustris, an Eleocharis, and Polygonum have done fine. Of course, they will usually do better in water that isn't too warm.

It started growing right away, so go ahead and plop.

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brad

· #9 · Jul 28, 2005

Alright, I dug some up. drove the shovel down deep, got lots of dirt, then gently rinsed most of it off as to not damage the roots. Trimmed off some of the older growth, and transplanted it into my tank. (peat cover by sand substrate) and gave it a little Jobes stick to help it along. It immediately started to weap. (To be expected) 2 weeks later, I don`t know where it went but it seems to have `disolved` into the water.

Another local plant I failed to acclimate to my tank.

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Cavan Allen

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 28, 2005

Are you sure you got the right stuff? The blue flowers are a key for identification.

What are you conditions like? Bob has pretty hard water, so maybe that's what it needs.

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brad

· #11 · Jul 28, 2005

Yup, it`s forget-me-nots. Small blue flowers. grows in wet areas. 1.3wpg lots of natural sunlight, gh kh both around 10-12. ph 7.4-7.6. Unheated.

Also tried `cow-slips` That didn`t work either. No idea what the real name is. It`s just what we always called them. green roundish leaves, small yellow flowers.

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AaronT

· #12 · Jul 28, 2005

brad said:
Yup, it`s forget-me-nots. Small blue flowers. grows in wet areas. 1.3wpg lots of natural sunlight, gh kh both around 10-12. ph 7.4-7.6. Unheated.

Also tried `cow-slips` That didn`t work either. No idea what the real name is. It`s just what we always called them. green roundish leaves, small yellow flowers.

You need more light and CO2 would be my guess. Sounds like a nutrient issue.

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