# Borago > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Borago > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Borago.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borago > Source revision: 1297769885 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Borage-flower-hr.jpg |image_caption = ''Borago officinalis'' flowers |taxon = Borago |authority = [L.](/source/Carl_Linnaeus) |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = ''[Borago longifolia](/source/Borago_longifolia)'' Poir.
''[Borago morisiana](/source/Borago_morisiana)'' Bigazzi & Ricceri
''[Borago officinalis](/source/Borago_officinalis)'' L.
''[Borago pygmaea](/source/Borago_pygmaea)'' Chater & Greuter
''[Borago trabutii](/source/Borago_trabutii)'' Maire }} '''''Borago''''', or '''borage''', is a [genus](/source/genus) of five [species](/source/species){{cite journal |author=Selvi, Coppi & Bgazzi |year=2006 |title=Karyotype Variation, Evolution and Phylogeny in Borago (Boraginaceae), with Emphasis on Subgenus Buglossites in the Corso-Sardinian System |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=857–868 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcl167 |url= |pmid=16870641 |pmc=2806164}} of [herb](/source/herb)s native to the Mediterranean, with one species, ''[Borago officinalis](/source/Borago_officinalis)'', cultivated and naturalized throughout the world. ==Uses== {{citations needed|date=June 2025}} ''Borago officinalis'' is used [medicinally](/source/medicinal_herb), in [companion planting](/source/companion_planting), in cooking, and as an [oilseed](/source/oilseed). Cooked stalks are sometimes eaten as a vegetable. The large, hairy [leaves](/source/leaf) taste mildly of [cucumber](/source/cucumber), and star-shaped purple-blue [flower](/source/flower)s 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 [bee](/source/bee)s. The hairs covering the plant are said to repel herbivores. == Description == Borages are [annual](/source/annual_plant) or [perennial](/source/perennial) herbaceous plants with alternate leaves and long-stalked flowers. The [inflorescence](/source/inflorescence)s are branched scorpioid cymes, i.e. subsequent flowers are orientated in a spiral, analogous to the tail of the scorpion. The [corolla](/source/corolla_(flower)) is blue or rarely white. Corollas are actinomorphic (star-shaped) with five petals. {{cite book|last=Stace|first=C. A.|author-link = Stace, C. A.|year=2019|title=New Flora of the British Isles|edition=Fourth|publisher=C & M Floristics|location = Middlewood Green, Suffolk, U.K.| isbn=978-1-5272-2630-2}}{{rp|594}} The corolla tube is short. Throat scales are short, hairless, and emarginated, i.e. with a nick or notch at the apex, standing out from the crown.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}} The [stamen](/source/stamen)s are inserted near the base of the corolla. The [anthers](/source/anthers) are mucronate, with long, pointed appendages, and upright. The stamens protrude through the throat scales The style and capitate stigma do not extend beyond the scales of the throat. The fruits are obovate [nutlets](/source/Glossary_of_botanical_terms), 7-10mm, with a thick, ring-shaped collar at the base. Seeds are [dispersed by ants](/source/myrmecochory).{{citation needed|date=June 2025}} ==Distribution== The species of this genus are found in cultivated and rocky areas through the southwestern [Mediterranean](/source/Mediterranean). The genus is monophyletic and very close genetically to the sister genus ''[Symphytum](/source/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](/source/Borago_officinalis) '' cultivated throughout the world, native to North Africa * ''[Borago trabutii](/source/Borago_trabutii) '' endemic to the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas, Morocco * ''[Borago longifolia](/source/Borago_longifolia) '' endemic to northern Algeria and Tunisia Subgenus ''Buglossites'' is prostrate and has bright, bell-shaped flowers: * ''[Borago pygmaea](/source/Borago_pygmaea) '' sometimes cultivated, native to Corsica, Sardinia, and the island of Capraia * ''[Borago morisiana](/source/Borago_morisiana) '' endemic to the island of San Pietro in southwestern Sardinia ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== {{Commons category|Borago}} {{Wikispecies}} *Bennett, M. (2003) [https://web.archive.org/web/20060518161004/http://www.batsford.com/book/0713487321 ''Pulmonarias & the Borage Family'']. B.T. Batsford, {{ISBN|0-7134-8732-1}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q149122}} {{Authority control}} Category:Boraginoideae Category:Boraginaceae genera --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Borago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borago) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borago?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.