Myosotis australis

Myosotis australis plants are rosettes that are sometimes stoloniferous. The rosette leaves have petioles that are 1–68 mm long. The rosette leaf blades are 2–73 mm long by 2–29 mm wide (length: width ratio 1.1–7.7: 1), usually narrowly oblanceolate, oblanceolate, narrowly obovate, obovate, or very broadly obovate, usually widest at or above the middle, an acute or obtuse apex. Both surfaces of the leaf are uniformly and densely covered in flexuous, patent to erect hairs oriented parallel or oblique to the midrib. On the upper surface of the leaf, these hairs are antrorse (forward-facing) whereas on the lower surface, they are a mixture of antrorse and retrorse (backward-facing). Each rosette has 1–17 ascending to erect, sometimes lax or decumbent (rarely prostrate or dwarfed), branched or unbranched, partially bracteate inflorescences that are not bifurcating at the top and are up to 630 mm long. The cauline leaves are similar to the rosette leaves, but become smaller. The flowers are 3–96 per inflorescence (rarely as many as 230), and each is borne on a short pedicel, with or without a bract. …

Myosotis australis is native to New Zealand, Australia and New Guinea. It can be found from 0–2100 m ASL in New Zealand and Australia, and 1775–4350 m ASL in New Guinea. It is found on rocks, bluffs, outcrops, ledges, scree, or banks. In Australia, it is found in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania. In New Zealand it is distributed throughout the South island in Western Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Westland, Otago, and possibly Fiordland, whereas on the North Island it is known only from the Volcanic Plateau and Southern North Island. In New Guinea it is found in both Western New Guinea (in Mimina and Puncak Jaya) as well as Papua New Guinea, in the following districts: Highlands (Chiumbu, Eastern Highlands, Enga, Hela, Southern Highlands, Western Highlands & Jiwaka), Momase (Morobe, West Sepik), and Southern (Central, Milne Bay).

Myosotis australis R.Br. is in the plant family Boraginaceae. The species was originally described by Robert Brown in his Prodromus florae Novae-Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen 1810. The lectotype was collected by Robert Brown on the "banks of Paterson River" (New South Wales, Australia), is lodged at the herbarium of the Natural History Museum (BM 000939408), and was designated by Carlos Lehnebach. Myosotis australis is morphologically most similar to other ebracteate-erect species from New Zealand, especially Myosotis saxatilis. Several morphological characters can be used to distinguish M. australis from M. saxatilis. The partially bracteate, distally non-bifurcating inflorescence in M. australis can help distinguish it from the obviously bifurcating, ebracteate inflorescence of M. saxatilis. In addition, M. australis has long internodes (>10 mm) between fruits at fruiting, whereas M. saxatilis has short internodes (<12 mm). The species epithet australis is a Latin word that means south or southern, referring to its presence in Australia. According to the latest taxonomic treatment, the following names are all synonyms of M. australis: Myosotis mooreana Lehnebach, M. lytteltonensis (Laing & A.Wall) de Lange (and M. australis var. lytteltonensis Laing & A.Wall;), and M. australis var. …