Boraginaceae

Thesaurus

Noun

Boraginaceae - a widely distributed family of plants distinguished by circinate flowers and nutlike fruitborage family, family Boraginaceaeplant family - a family of plantsorder Polemoniales, Polemoniales - Polemoniaceae; Solanaceae; Boraginaceae; Labiatae; Lentibulariaceae; Pedaliaceae; in some classifications includes the order ScrophularialesBorago, genus Borago - perennial herbs of the Mediterranean regionAmsinckia, genus Amsinckia - rough annual herbs of Europe and the Americas: fiddlenecksgenus Anchusa - rough and hairy Old World herbsCordia, genus Cordia - tropical deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs of the family BoraginaceaeCynoglossum, genus Cynoglossum - a large genus of tall rough herbs belonging to the family BoraginaceaeEchium, genus Echium - a genus of bristly herbs and shrubs of the family Boraginaceaegenus Hackelia, genus Lappula, Hackelia, Lappula - stickweed; beggar's licegenus Lithospermum, Lithospermum - annual or perennial herbaceous or shrubby plants; cosmopolitan except Australiagenus Mertensia, Mertensia - a genus of herbs belonging to the family Boraginaceae that grow in temperate regions and have blue or purple flowers shaped like funnelsgenus Myosotis, Myosotis - forget-me-nots; scorpion grassgenus Onosmodium, Onosmodium - a genus of North American perennial herbs of the family Boraginaceaegenus Symphytum, Symphytum - comfrey

Boraginaceae

[bə¦ra·jə′nās·ē‚ē] (botany) A family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales comprising mainly herbs and some tropical trees.

Boraginaceae

a family of dicotyledonous plants. Plants of the Boraginaceae family are herbs or, more rarely, semishrubs, shrubs, lianas, or trees. The plants are usually edged with coarse hairs. The blossoms with double perianths are usually gathered into tendrils; more rarely, they are single. In the throat of the corolla in many Boraginaceae there are scales or other appendages which protect the nectar from rain. The fruit of Boraginaceae is fractional, dividing upon maturation into two or four nutlike parts; in some Boraginaceae the fruit is drupelike or, very rarely, a boll. The family includes about 100 genera and over 2, 000 species, which are distributed over the entire globe and are especially abundant around the Mediterranean Sea and in western North America. There are more than 350 species in the USSR. Some Boraginaceae are used in medicine—for example, medicinal comfrey and hound’s-tongue (Symphytum and Cynoglossum respectively). Others are known as highly valuable honey- and nectar-bearers—for example, lungworts, of the genus Anchusa, and viper’s bugloss (Echium). Some species of comfrey are cultivated as food plants; borage is a vegetable; one species of alkanet is a dye plant; forget-me-nots and Peruvian heliotrope are ornamental plants; stickseed, or German alyssum, and many other Boraginaceae are classified as weeds; representatives of the genera Cynoglossum, Heliotropum, and others may poison cattle who eat them. Many tropical and subtropical trees and shrubs of the Boraginaceae provide valuable lumber and sometimes edible fruits and medicinal substances.

REFERENCES

Popov, M. G. “Burachnikovye.” In Flora SSSR, vol. 19. Moscow-Leningrad, 1953.
Takhtadzhian, A. L. Sistema i filogeniia tsvetkovykh rastenii. Moscow-Leningrad, 1966.

M. E. KIRPICHNIKOV

Boraginaceae

Related to Boraginaceae: Hydrophyllaceae, Scrophulariaceae

noun

Synonyms for Boraginaceae

noun a widely distributed family of plants distinguished by circinate flowers and nutlike fruit

Synonyms

borage family
family Boraginaceae

Related Words

plant family
order Polemoniales
Polemoniales
Borago
genus Borago
Amsinckia
genus Amsinckia
genus Anchusa
Cordia
genus Cordia
Cynoglossum
genus Cynoglossum
Echium
genus Echium
genus Hackelia
genus Lappula
Hackelia
Lappula
genus Lithospermum
Lithospermum
genus Mertensia
Mertensia
genus Myosotis
Myosotis
genus Onosmodium
Onosmodium
genus Symphytum
Symphytum