General: The annual Forget-Me-Nots (Cryptantha spp.) are a diverse group of small-flowered plants with some 35 species in the desert. The plant ranges from low-growing, compact, mound-shaped species to widely spreading, tall, stringy species. All species have hairy or bristly leaves and stems, and most have tiny white flowers with open faces. Some species have flowers with yellow centers. Almost all are hard to identify with certainty, and the seeds are important in keying them out.

Cryptanthas are common components of desert vegetation communities on sandy and gravel soils in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats), Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zones. It can also be found in higher life zones.

Forget-Me-Nots can be so abundant that they form gray-green carpets along desert roadways.

Family: Borage (Boraginaceae).

Other Names: Forget Me Not, Cryptantha

Plant Form: Small; low, compact mound to upright and stringy.

Height: Usually about 2-10 inches.

Stems: None to upright.

Leaves: To about 3/4-inch long, narrow; bristly.

Flowers: Tiny; tubular, white, 4 petals.

Seeds: Nutlets.

Habitat: Sandy to rocky desert soils and into the mountains.

Elevation: Sea-level to about 11,000 feet.

Distribution: Widespread throughout the southwestern deserts and beyond.

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