Boraginaceae
15–45 cm
Wetland
Sky blue
Delicate sky-blue flowers with a yellow eye, growing at the water's edge in a classic combination of colour and grace.
Natural History
The Water Forget-me-not is one of Britain's most delicate and charming wildflowers, its tiny sky-blue flowers with a bright yellow centre growing in profusion at the edges of streams, ponds, and ditches from May to September. The flowers are only 8–10 mm across, but are produced in such abundance that they create a haze of soft blue along the waterside. The plant grows in shallow water or very wet soil, often with its stems trailing in the water. The flowers open in a characteristic scorpioid cyme — a coiled arrangement that unfurls as the flowers open, like the tail of a scorpion (hence the Latin name 'scorpioides'). The Water Forget-me-not is the county flower of Staffordshire and has been associated with remembrance and fidelity across European cultures.
Habitats
Key Pollinators
Traditional Uses
The plant has no significant culinary or medicinal uses. It is an important plant for wetland wildlife and is widely used in pond and stream planting schemes.
Did You Know?
The forget-me-not's distinctive yellow centre acts as a nectar guide for pollinators — it changes colour as the flower ages, signalling to bees whether nectar is still available.
Related Species
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Allium ursinum
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