Myosotis secunda

Myosotis secunda is a perennial herb.{{Cite journal |date=2022-04-20 |title=Myosotis secunda |url=https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/myosotis-secunda |access-date=2022-04-20 |journal=Watsonia|volume=6 |pages=276–279 }} Creeping stems sprout from the base of the plant and produce roots at nodes.{{Cite web |date=2022-04-20 |title=Creeping Forget-me-not |url=http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/boraginaceae/myosotis-secunda.htm |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=www.plant-identification.co.uk}} Stems can reach up to 38cm tall.{{Cite web |date=2022-04-20 |title=Myosotis secunda A. Murray |url=https://eol.org/pages/5353215 |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=eol.org}} Flowers are usually blue in colour, however white can occasionally be found.Smith, J. E. (1840). English Botany; Or, Coloured Figures of British Plants: With Their Essential Characters, Synonyms, and Places of Growth. United Kingdom: Richard Taylor. Flower spikes possess several flowers which are 4 - 9mm in diameter.

This species is endemic to Europe. M. secunda can be found growing in the following countries: United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France. It can also be found growing on the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey and the Faroe Islands.

In Portugal the species can be found on the mainland, but also on the islands of Madeira and Azores.

Myosotis secunda grows in proximity to wetland habitats such as on the margins of streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, creeks and waterfalls. It will also grow in wet grasslands, bogs, fens, marshes, swamps and peatlands. This species often occurs growing in acidic soils.

Both M. secunda and M. scorpioides grow in wetland habitats. M. scorpioides grows in nutrient rich soils, while M. secunda will outcompete and replace it in nutrient poor soils.{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Paul L. |title=Indicator Plants Using Plants to Evaluate the Environment |publisher=Wildtrack Publishing Limited |year=2015 |isbn=9781904098362 |pages=34}}

Myosotis secunda is one of many host plants for the beetle species Phaedon armoraciae.{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Shawn Meredith |title=Host Plants of Leaf Beetle Species Occurring in the United States and Canada |publisher=Coleopterists Society |year=2004 |isbn=9780972608732 |pages=290}}{{Cite web |date=2022-04-20 |title=Phaedon armoraciae (Linnaeus, 1758) |url=https://www.ukbeetles.co.uk/phaedon-armoraciae |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=www.ukbeetles.co.uk}}

The species can sometimes be found growing alongside other wetland plant species such as bog pimpernel (Lysimachia tenella, syn. Anagallis tenella) and marsh-bedstraw (Galium palustre).{{Cite web |last=Kitchener |first=Geoffrey |date=2021 |title=Kent Rare Plant Register Species Accounts M |url=https://bsbi.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/rare-plant-register-accounts-M-Feb-2021.pdf |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland}}

A new hybrid species was discovered in Bowland Fells, Lancashire, United Kingdom. The hybrid is sterile and between Myosotis secunda and Myosotis stolonifera. It was described by P. Jepson and given the binomial name Myosotis × bollandica.{{Cite web |last=Jepson, Welch, Bailey |first=P., David, J P |date=2012 |title=A new Myosotis hybrid, Myosotis × bollandica (Boraginaceae) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272251757 |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=www.researchgate.net}}

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secunda

Category:Flora of Southwestern Europe

Category:Flora of Great Britain

Category:Flora of Ireland