BORAGINACEAE, a family of plants belonging to the sympetalous section of dicotyledons, and a member of the series Tubiflorae. They are rough-haired annual or perennial herbs, more rarely shrubby or arborescent in tropical and sub-tropical forms. The leaves, generally alternate, are usually entire and nar row. The radical leaves in some genera, as Pulmonaria (lungwort) Cynoglossum, differ from the stem-leaves, being broader and sometimes heart-shaped. A characteristic feature is the one-sided (dorsiventral) inflorescence, illustrated in forget-me-not (Myo sotis); the cyme is at first closely coiled, becoming uncoiled as the flowers open. Often the flowers are red in bud, becoming blue as they expand, as in Myosotis. The flowers are generally regular ; the form of the corolla is rotate in borage, tubular in comfrey, funnel-shaped in hounds-tongue. The throat is often closed by scale-like outgrowths from the corolla, f orming the corona.
The five -stamens alternate with the lobes of the corolla. The ovary, of two carpels, is seated on a ring-like disc which secretes honey. Each carpel becomes divided by a median constriction each containing one ovule; the style springs from the centre. The colour of the flowers and the presence of honey serve to attract in sects. The scales around the throat of the corolla protect it from wet or undesirable visitors, and by difference in colour from the corolla-lobes, as in the yellow eye of forget-me-not, may serve to indicate the position of the honey. In most genera the fruit is a one-seeded nutlet; there are generally four, but one or more may not develop.
The family is widely spread in temperate and tropical regions, and contains oo genera with about ,000 species. Its chief centre is the Mediterranean region, whence it extends over central Europe and Asia, becoming less frequent northwards. A smaller centre occurs on the Pacific side of North America. The family is less developed in the south perate zone. It is of little nomic value. Several genera, such as borage, were f ormerly used in medicine, and the roots yield purple or brown dyes. Heliotrope or cherry-pie &opium peruvianum) is a known garden plant.
In Great Britain the family is represented by some 12 genera and upwards of 25 species ; among these are the borage (Borago officinalis), the gromwell (Litho spermum officinale), the hound's tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), the viper's-bugloss (Echium vul gare) and several species of for-get-me-not or scorpion-grass (Myosotis). In North America there are about 3o genera and upwards of 25o species, most nu merous in the western United States. In the northeastern States and adjacent Canada about so species are found, one-third of which are naturalized; in the Rocky Mountain region upwards of i5o species occur ; in the Great Basin (Utah and Nevada) there are more than ioo species, and in California, more than 9o. Exclusively North American genera are Allocarya, Amsinckia, Cryp tantha, Oreocarya and Plagio bothrys.