Weeds
Myosotis arvensis L. - Common (Field) Forget-Me-Not.
Systematic position.
Family Boraginaceae, genus Myosotis.Synonyms
Myosotis scorpioides var. arvensis L., M. intermedia Link.Biological group.
Annual, sometimes biennial weed.Morphology and biology.
Plant with numerous stems branching sometimes from basis or from middle of stem, 20-40 cm in height. Lower leaves oblong, drawn-out toward petiole, aggregated in rosette; upper ones sessile, narrow-ovate or elongate-lanceolate. The stem and leaves are covered with erect hairs. Flowers blue (seldom white), aggregated in a raceme. Pedicel at fruits twice longer than serrate calix. Corolla with short tube, with bend being 2-4 mm in diameter. Nutlets oblong, triquetrous, brown or black. One plant produces about 700 seeds. Only radical rosette of leaves can form in the first year, and floriferous stem forms in the second year. Blossoming since May till October. Fructifying since June.Distribution.
Grows in almost all European part of the former USSR, in the Caucasus (Ciscaucasia and Dagestan), in Western Siberia (including Altai), Eastern Siberia (from Yenisei to Baikal), Central Asia.Ecology.
Grows on the ruderal places in addition to cultivated lands, along roads, on fallows and dry meadow hillsides. Occurs less often toward southeast.Economic significance.
Segetal-ruderal weed. Considering as a weed in crops in the north mainly (winter rye, barley, oat, flax, potato), in gardens, kitchen gardens, on sfallows. Meets frequently, but sparsely. Control measures are agronomical actions and chemical weeding.Related references.
Maevskii P.F. 1954. Flora of middle belt of the European part of the USSR. Moscow & Leningrad: Selkhozgiz, 912 p. (in Russian)Nikitin, V.V. 1983. Weed plants in the flora of the USSR. Leningrad: Nauka, 454 p. (in Russian)
Shishkin B.K., ed. 1963. Botanical atlas. Moscow & Leningrad: Selkhozgiz, 504 pp. (In Russian)
Ulyanova, T.N. 1998. Weed plants in the flora of Russia and other CIS states. St.-Petersburg: VIR, 344 p. (in Russian)