About Myosotis monroi Cheeseman
Myosotis monroi Cheeseman plants grow as small rosettes that often cluster together to form tufts or loose clumps. Rosette leaves have petioles that range from 3 to 56 mm in length. Rosette leaf blades measure 10–50 mm long by 4–13 mm wide, with a length to width ratio of 1.7–5.2:1. The blades are oblanceolate or narrowly obovate, widest at or above the middle, and have an obtuse, often apiculate apex. The upper leaf surface is densely covered in straight, appressed, forward-facing (antrorse) hairs oriented parallel to the mid vein, while the lower leaf surface is usually hairless except for a few scattered isolated hairs. Each rosette produces 1–6 erect, branched, forked, bractless inflorescences that can reach up to 22 cm long. Cauline leaves on the lower portion of the inflorescence resemble rosette leaves, and decrease in size towards the tip of the inflorescence. Each inflorescence can hold up to 28 flowers. Flowers are carried on short pedicels and do not have bracts. The calyx is 3–6 mm long when flowering and 3–8 mm long when fruiting, lobed to roughly half its total length, and densely covered in short to long forward-facing hairs, some of which are hooked. The corolla is cream, white, or yellow, and measures 4–7 mm in diameter. It has a cylindrical tube, rounded flat petals, and small yellow scales that alternate with the petals. The anthers are fully exserted, extending past the scales. The four smooth, shiny, black nutlets are 1.8–2.4 mm long by 1.1–1.2 mm wide, and are narrowly ovoid in shape. The counted chromosome number for this species (reported as M. laeta) is 2n = 46. This species flowers and fruits from October to April, with the main flowering and fruiting period falling between November and January. Myosotis monroi is a forget-me-not endemic to the northern South Island, New Zealand, specifically in the Sounds-Nelson and Western Nelson ecological provinces, growing at elevations between 700 and 1640 m. It is locally common on ultramafic soils in rocky areas of fellfield, scrub, or tussock grassland in the Red Hills, Wairau Valley, and at Dun Mountain.
