Flora of New Zealand Series

Perennial herb. Radical to lower cauline lvs with sparsely hairy petiole to c. 30 cm long; lamina to c. 21 × 18 cm, broadly ovate, with coarse, ± appressed hairs on both surfaces, entire; base cordate with deep rounded sinus; apex rounded or obtuse. Upper cauline lvs similar but petiole short; lamina 3-4 × 2-2.5 cm. Infl. to c. 50 cm long; branches clothed in appressed hairs. Calyx 1.5-2 mm long, clothed in appressed hairs or nearly glabrous; lobes lanceolate, obtuse, strongly ciliate. Corolla tube c. 1 mm long, white; limb 6 × 9 mm diam., bright blue above, pale beneath; lobes obovate; scales white, grooved down centre, nearly closing corolla throat. Anthers dark. Nutlets glabrous, not seen at maturity.

S.: Dunedin and vicinity.

Caucasus 1981

Forest margins, cool shaded areas, especially near old rubbish heaps, rare escape from cultivation.

FL Mar-Nov.

B. macrophylla is commonly cultivated in cooler parts of N.Z. where it thrives in partial shade. The fls of N.Z. material are larger than described in some treatments. The sp. has previously been known in N.Z. as Myosotis macrophylla.