Borago

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Boraginales

Familia: Boraginaceae
Subfamilia: Boraginoideae
Tribus: Boragineae
Genus: Borago
Species (5 accepted): B. longifolia – B. morisiana – B. officinalis – B. pygmaea – B. trabutii

Source(s) of checklist:

Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Borago in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Sep 22. Reference page.

Name

Borago L., 1753

Type species: Borago officinalis L.

Synonyms

Borrachinea Lavy
Buglossites Moris

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Europe
Southwestern Europe
Baleares, Corse, France, Portugal, Sardegna, Spain
Southeastern Europe
Greece, Italy, Kriti, Sicilia, Yugoslavia
Africa
Northern Africa
Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition

References
Primary references

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species plantarum, exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas. Tomus I. Pp. [I–XII], 1–560. Impensis Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae [Stockholm]. BHL Reference page. : 137.

Additional references

Farr, E. R. & Zijlstra, G. eds. (1996-) Index Nominum Genericorum (Plantarum). 2010 May 22 [1].

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Borago in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Sep 22. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Borago. Published online. Accessed: Sep 22 2020.
Tropicos.org 2020. Borago. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 22 Sep 2020.
Catalogue of Life: 2021 Annual Checklist

Vernacular names
беларуская: Агурочнік
suomi: Purasruohot
français: Bourrache
македонски: Лисичинка
русский: Бурачник

Borago, or borage, is a genus of five species[1] of herbs native to the Mediterranean, with one species, Borago officinalis, cultivated and naturalized throughout the world.

Uses

Borago officinalis is used medicinally, in companion planting, in cooking, and as an oilseed. Cooked stalks are sometimes eaten as a vegetable. The large, hairy leaves taste mildly of cucumber, and star-shaped purple-blue flowers are prized for their flavour. The leaves are often added to teas and salads, and the flowers have been added to wine (Borage has had a reputation to give one courage since Roman times). The flowers are highly attractive to bees. The hairs covering the plant are said to repel herbivores.
Description

Borages are annual or perennial herbaceous plants with alternate leaves and long-stalked flowers. The inflorescences are branched scorpioid cymes, i.e. subsequent flowers are oriented in a curve, as in the tail of the scorpion.

The flowers are star-shaped wheel or bell-shaped; nectar is dispersed through a cone-shaped structure. They are pollinated by bees. The corolla is blue, pink, or white. Corollas are rotate with five petals. The corolla tube is short or nonexistent. Throat scales are short, hairless, and emarginated, i.e. with a nick or notch at the apex, standing out from the crown.

The stamens are inserted near the base of the corolla. The anthers are mucronate, with long, pointed appendages, and are upright. The stamens protrude through the throat scales to nearly the bottom of the crown. The stamens are at the top of a long, narrow appendage. The appendix is a long, narrow apex. Styles are whole filiform to the base ovarium. The style does not extend beyond the scales of the throat and a capitate stigma. Four nuculae with a thick, ring-shaped collar are at the base.

The fruits are small obovate achenes. Seeds are dispersed by ants.
Distribution

The species of this genus are found in cultivated and rocky areas through the southwestern Mediterranean. The genus is monophyletic and very close genetically to the sister genus Symphytum. Four of the five species are found only in northwest Africa, Corsica, Sardinia, and the Tuscan Archipelago. Only B. officinalis is widely cultivated, and has become naturalized through much of the temperate world (e.g. Argentina, Canada, Chile, United States, Mexico, and Paraguay). B. officinalis was once thought to be native to Syria, but it is probably of North African origin, where other Borago species occur. It is often grown as ornamental.
Species

The genus comprises five species in two subgenera:

Subgenus Borago is characterized by erect herbaceous, wheel-shaped flowers, blue, sometimes white:

Borago officinalis cultivated throughout the world, native to North Africa
Borago trabutii endemic to the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas, Morocco
Borago longifolia endemic to northern Algeria and Tunisia

Subgenus Buglossites is prostrate and has bright, bell-shaped flowers:

Borago pygmaea sometimes cultivated, native to Corsica, Sardinia, and the island of Capraia
Borago morisiana endemic to the island of San Pietro in southwestern Sardinia

References

Selvi, Coppi & Bgazzi (2006). "Karyotype Variation, Evolution and Phylogeny in Borago (Boraginaceae), with Emphasis on Subgenus Buglossites in the Corso-Sardinian System". Annals of Botany. 98 (4): 857–868. doi:10.1093/aob/mcl167. PMC 2806164. PMID 16870641.