Myosotis stolonifera
Ecology
A perennial herb growing by rills and along base-rich spring-lines and flushes. Mainly upland, reaching 820 m on Cross Fell (Cumberland), and down to 130 m in the Lune valley (Cumberland).
Status
Trends
This species was first collected in Britain in 1919, from the N. Pennines, and initially described as an endemic, M. brevifolia (Salmon, 1926). It was inadequately recorded for the 1962 Atlas, the plant not being sought in areas distant from the original sites. However, following a study of its characteristic features, M. stolonifera became better known and it has been found more widely, notably in S. Scotland. It may still be overlooked elsewhere.
World Distribution
Oceanic Boreal-montane element; confined to Portugal, Spain and Britain.
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Broad Habitats
Light (Ellenberg): 8
Moisture (Ellenberg): 9
Reaction (Ellenberg): 5
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 4
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 1.6
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 13.2
Annual Precipitation (mm): 1362
Height (cm): 20
Perennation - primary
Life Form - primary
Woodiness
Clonality - primary
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 115
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 0
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 0
Atlas Change Index: 0.77
JNCC Designations
Scarce Atlas Account
Myosotis stolonifera (DC.) Gay ex Leresche & Levier
Pale forget-me-not
Status: scarce
This is a montane species, found over a wide variety of rocks although absent from limestone. It occurs in somewhat base-poor springs and seepage areas, soakways and flushes on the hillsides and in the valleys by pools, in ditches and in the backwaters of streams. The hillside springs and flushes are usually dominated by bryophytes, especially Dicranella palustris and Philonotis fontana; higher plant associates include Cardamine pratensis, Chrysosplenium oppositifolium, Montia fontana, Saxifraga stellaris, Stellaria uliginosa and, less frequently, Epilobium alsinifolium. Myosotis secunda and the more base-tolerant Sphagnum spp., such as S. recurvum, may be associated with it in valley pools. It descends to 130 metres in the Lune Gorge and ascends to 820 metres near Cross Fell.
The stems of this perennial species root freely at the nodes and during the latter part of the summer they branch freely, producing a dense, floating mass of vegetation which breaks up and is an effective means of vegetative propagation. Seed production is apparently normal.
This species was apparently first collected by A. Wilson near Sedbergh in 1892 but it was not recognised as a new British species until 1926 when it was described by C.E. Salmon as M. brevifolia. It was subsequently realised that it was conspecific with M. stolonifera. The near tripling in the number of records, compared with those in the Atlas (Perring & Walters 1962), probably reflects past confusion with M. secunda and also a greater awareness of the species. It is probably still under-recorded.
This species is endemic to Europe, and is confined to northern Portugal, Spain and Britain.
R. W. M. Corner & G. Halliday
Atlas text references
Atlas (214a)
.
1994. Scarce plants in Britain.
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1967. Notes on Myosotis scorpioides agg. Watsonia. 6:276-279.