It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout some parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

It grows in many types of habitat, including moist and wet areas; it is sometimes aquatic, growing in shallow water.

Henry David Thoreau described Myosotis laxa: The mouse-ear forget-me-not, Myosotis laxa, has now extended its racemes (?)

very much, and hangs over the edge of the brook.

It is the more beautiful for being small and unpretending; even flowers must be modest.