FORGET-ME-NOTS

Hokitika Guardian, 20 June 1931, Page 2

FORGET-ME-NOTS

Air J. Drummond, F.L.S. F.Z.S

As the Old Country’s forget-me not is li it aggressive, and is too modest to assert "itself where it is not wanted in New Zealand, merely occupying bogs and other wet places, it teems ■hardly necessary for Dr F. W. Hilgen. dorf to include it in bis “Weeds of New Zealand.” J't has no ambition to usurp pasture, lands, although some* times it creeps hesitatingly and apologeticaly into a suburban garden, looking out at visitors through its blue Anglo-Saxon eyes, typical of the imperial races on whom it was a lord-in-waiting when New Zealand was settled. Ouida in one of her novels writes of a man with a dangerous glitter in his forget-me-not hued eyes. Blue eyes may glitter dangerously, but tjiey cease to be foiget menot eyes. The authoress whose books had a great vogue in Mid-Victorian days could have found a more apt similitude.

In the-’e days pretty legends associated with flowers are not cherished. The blue-eyed forget-me-not, to almost every New Zealander, is nothing more than the yellow primrose on the river’s brim was to Peter Bell. In Devonshire it is still the heaven’s blue, but even in England, probably, nobody now believes that it grows for .happy lovers. Not many years ago people in England who wished to find a place in the thoughts of distant per* sons pulled a sprig of forget-me-not and Expressed their wish to it, in the belief that the wish would be gratified.

Tn earlier English days n species of forget-me-not allied to the common species and called scorpion grass was “verie goode against the bite of scorpions.” Boiled in wine it was a cure for the bites of “adders, snakes, and such-like venomous beasts.” In the fifteenth century there wa s a general belief that those who wore a sprig of forget-me-not would not be forgotten bv their lovers. A work published in England 90 years ago stated that “this royal adventurer, Lancaster, appears to have been tlie person who gave to tlie Myosotis, or forget-me-not, its emblematic and poetical meaning.” As a matter of fact, the for-get-me-not .has the whole of Europe for its home, and its English name is a translation of its name in France., where, apparently, it was the emblem of friendship before it received this distinction in England.

Coming from sentiment to, natural history, the common forget-me-not is Myosotis palustris, Five other species, all blue-eyed, have came to New Zealand with it. One of these, Myosotis arvensis, is the fabled scorpiongrass. Myosotis repens, the creeping Wfttpi;.►scorpion- .grass, -has -not been recorded in the Dominion. The scorpiongrass seems to have given the group its common name, Myosotis, from two Greek words, “mys,” ai mouse, and “ous,” au ear. The leaves of this species are clothed with long coarse hairs which makes them look like a mouse's ear.

New Zealand has more interest in tire forget-me-nots than is generally known. They are better represented in the native plants of New Zealand than in the native plants of any other country, While the Old Country has five or six species, New Zealand has no fewer thnn about 30, more than half the total known from all parts of the world. Their great development here, contrasting with their fewness in Australia, and South America, is one of the mast remarkable features of New Zealand’s plant life. Against this is the absence of all poetry and romance from New 'Zealand's forget-me-nots. Many of them display white, purple, or yellow, instead of the famous forget-me-not blue.

Still, some sentiment is associated with New Zealand’s forget-me nots. Myosotis Forsteri, which has white flowers, arranged in long, slender inflorescences, and favours the sides oi streams, in hilly and wooded districts, or in open swampy forests, was gathered by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Solander, famous botanists who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage, and who, doubtless, were surprised to find a forget-me not without the blue flowers they knew well at Home. This species has been dedicated to another botanist, John Reinbold Forster, who with his son George Forster, accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage. Solander saw i at Tolaga Bay, and in a few other places. When resident 'botanists began to collect New Zealand plants, it was found that the species was fairly well distributed from tire Bay of Islands south to the west of Otago.

A forget-me-not with large' purewhite flowers. Myosntis explanata., is an alpinist, living in the Southern Alps at altitudes from 3000 feet to 4500 feet, snuggling into sheltered nooks and Horners at the bases of masses of rock or of rock-pillars. It was originally discovered 50 years a;eo by Air T. F. Cheeseman on mountains overlooking Arthur’s Pass. L°ter, it was gathered on Walker’s Pass, adjacent to Arthur’s Pass. It has been recorded in no other rlace. Many flowered clusters of bright yellow blooms, displayed in Deceinber and Jnnuarv, are shown on hillsides by Myosotis Monroi, discovered by Sir David Monro 77 years ago on Dun Mountain, Nelson, and gathered later bv Mr Cheeseman on Red Hills, Wairan Valley. Large avliite flowers, half an inch long and half an inch wide ; produced by Myocotis amabilis,

have been seen by few people. They bloom in January on the. summit 01 Mount Hikurangi,, East Cape district, at -a height of 5000 feet.

The discovery of one of the most beautiful forget-me-nots in the whole world Myosotis concinua, fell to the lot of Mr Cheecman 49 years ago. Ascending the northern slopes of Mount Gwen, a broad and massive manypeaked mountain between the Buller River and the headwaters of the AVangapekai River, he reached open elevated rocky country that surrounds the higher peaks. There, at an altitude of from 3500 feet to 5000 feet, he saw this forget-me not, plentiful and conspicuous its bright yellow—golde..—flowers showing in every nook and corner and filling the mountain air with their fragrance. The beauty and fragrance of the flowers suggested to him the cultivation of this '* New Zealand forget-me-not in gardens, but no effort has been made to induce the species to spread its sweet influence to the lowlands.

On the other hand, the noble giant forget-me-not of the Chatham Islands, known as the Chatham Islands lily, Myosotrdium Mobile, with (lark green leaves from six inches to fifteen : inches in and bright blue flowers, has been established ill New I Zealand gardens. A variety with white flowers is valued more highly than the blue flowered species, Strangely, the Chatham Islands lily, to use its popular misleading name, was first shown to botanists through specimens cultivated in England. Sir Joseph Hooker drew attention to it. in the Gardeners' Chronicle 73 years ago, Visiting tho Chatham# C 8 years ago to examine' the vegetation, which !up to that time was known through only a few plants collected by Dr. Dieffenbach 23 years previously, Mr H, H. Travers was the first botanist | who collected the notable island plant. 1 “On the beach;” Air Travers stated, 'Myosotidium nohiie grows with rank luxuriance, where not invaded by pigs, which feed on tlie roots.”

Old residents of the Chathams state that their wonderful foi’get me-not originally was an abundant coastal plant, growing usually on sandy soil close to high-water mark. Air A. Shnnd, who made valuable researches into the legends and history of the Morions, reported that in several places on the seashore it formed an tunbroken line several miles long. Owing partly to sheep, which fe?d on its thick and succulent leaves, and partly to pigs, it now is rare in a wild state, living in a few scattered places, which are becoming fewer. To cultivate it successfully, little care is necessary. Air Cheeseman found that it can be reared from seeds without the slightest difficulty, but to grow it to maturity and induce it to flower regularity, a special border is requisite. This should be made of sand and peaty loam, and the drainage . should be absolutely free. Some shade is necessary, and abundance of moisture should be provided. If these steps are taken, it usually can bo established, and will flower for many years in succession,