NEWS: Unknown species of “Forget me nots” discovered

Two new species of forget-me-nots have been discovered by scientists in New Zealand. These incredibly rare flowers were discovered in Kahurangi National Park during an expedition by Carlos A. Lehnebach.

The first of these species, Moore’s forget-me-not (Myosotis mooreana) is currently only found in one location, with only 6 individual plants being found. The second, Chaffey’s forget-me-not (Myosotis chaffeyorum) is habitat-specific and is only found at the base of limestone cliffs. Only 5 populations of these flowers have been found.

 

In a press release Dr Lehnebach, the curator at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewasaid “New Zealand forget-me-nots are far different from their blue flower relatives commonly found in people’s gardens, and some native species have yellow, pink, or tube-like brown-bronze flower…New Zealand is also home to the smallest forget-me-not in the world!”

Both of these species have been classified as ‘Nationally Critical’ in New Zealand due to the scarcity of them. Overall there are 39 known species of forget-me-nots in New Zealand, most of which are threatened.

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