Miosótis

Miosótis (pronounced mahy-uh-soh-tis)

Any plant belonging to the boraginaceous (of the borage family) genus Myosotis, having basal leaves and pink or white flowers; known generally as the forget-me-not.

1700–1710: From the New Latin & Latin myosōtis from the Ancient Greek μυοσωτίς (myosōtís or muosōtis) (mouse's ear (in the context of botany)), the construct being myós (genitive of mŷs or muos (mouse)) + -ōt- (stem of oûs (ear)) + -is (the noun suffix).  The mouse-ear (Myosotis Arvensis (type species Myosotis scorpioides)) is also called mouse-lug and the original Hellenic name was based on the idea of the foliage have some resemblance to the rodent's ears.  In Portuguese, the plant is also known as the não-te-esqueças-de-mim (literally "do not forget about me" and thus akin to "forget me not") & orelha-de-rato (mouse ear).  Miosótis is a noun; the noun plural is miosótis.  The alternative spelling myosótis is obsolete.

The miosótis is a perennial flowering plant, the flowers having five sepals and petals, typically flat and less than a half-inch (1.25 mm) in diameter, the color range including pink, white, yellow & blue with yellow centres, sprouting in a scorpioid cluster.  Flowering happens almost in spring, coinciding with the melting of snow in alpine regions.  The genus was originally described by Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), famous for having systematized binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms and thus known as the "father of modern taxonomy".  The colloquial names in the northern hemisphere are "forget-me-not" and (less commonly "scorpion grass" (based on the spiraled clustering of the flowers) and Myosotis alpestris is the official flower of both Alaska and Dalsland, Sweden.  In other places, the common names vary and because of the vivid colors they are popular among amateur horticulturists, having spread to many of the Earth’s temperate regions where, outside of curated artificial environments, they prefer moist locations such as wetlands and riverbanks.

The “mouse’s ear” explained by Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried (b 1985)) in Mean Girls (2004).  Note the resemblance to the petals of the miosótis flower