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spelling myosótis is obsolete.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
