Field Forget-me-not is the most common of the four species found on dry, cultivated soils or areas of otherwise thin soils and restricted vegetation such as bare patches by footpaths in woods. The small bluish grey flowers are smaller than those of wood forget-me-not and changing forget-me-not has pale yellow flowers. Early forget-me-not is much smaller than 'field' and flowers from March until May whereas field forget-me-not flowers from May onwards so identification should not be an issue.
Field forget-me-not is a rather untidy, upright plant growing to about a foot tall, sometimes a bit bigger. The small, five petalled flowers are quite distinctive and well known by most people. Usually you find open flowers at the top of the stem and a series of seed heads on stalks alternately opposite each other further down.
The name 'forget-me-not' has been linked to this plant for centuries. There are various stories as to how it came about but it seems it was a custom in many parts of Europe for soldiers to give their sweethearts a posy of these flowers before leaving for battle for her to retain as a memory of him should he not return.
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