Myosotis discolor

Changing forget-me-not

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Changing forget-me-not is a naturalized annual found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, northern Sierra Nevada, central Sierra Nevada forest, Sacramento Valley, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Peninsular Ranges, and Modoc Plateau in roadsides, moist ground, and wet meadows at elevations below 1,650 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces distinctive yellow flowers that turn blue, with wide funnel-shaped blossoms around 1 to 3 millimeters in diameter. Growing with slender stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall, it branches irregularly and appears somewhat hairy. Its leaves are sparse, ranging from oblanceolate at the base to linear or oblong on the stem, generally 1 to 4 centimeters long and 2 to 8 millimeters wide. The fruit consists of small dark brown or nearly black nutlets that are shorter than the plant's style.

Habitat: Roadsides, moist ground, wet meadows

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 1650 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, n SN, c SNF, ScV, CCo, SnFrB, PR, MP

California counties: Plumas, Shasta, Sonoma, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Butte, Lassen, Mariposa, El Dorado, Sacramento, Nevada, San Mateo, Lake, Yuba, Sierra, Humboldt, Marin, Trinity, Calaveras, San Diego, Tuolumne, Alpine, Santa Cruz, Monterey

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.