BORAGINACEAE  , an

order of plants belonging to the sympetalous section of dicotyledons, and a member of the series Tubiflorae . It is represented in Britain by bugloss (Echium) (fig . 1), comfrey (Symphytum), Myosotis, hounds-tongue (Cynoglossum) (fig . 2), and other genera, while borage (Borago cfficinalis) (fig . 3) occurs as a garden escape in waste ground . The plants are rough-haired annual or perennial herbs, more rarely shrubby or arborescent, as in Cordia and Ehretia, which are tropical or sub-tropical . The leaves, which are generally alternate, are usually entire and narrow: the radical leaves in some genera, as Pulmonaria (lungwort) and Cynoglossum, differ in form from the stem-leaves, being generally broader and some-times heart-shaped . A characteristic feature is the one-sided (dorsiventral) inflorescence, well illustrated in forget-me-not and other species of Myosotis; the cyme is at first closely coiled, becoming uncoiled as the flowers open . At the same time there is often a change in colour in the flowers, which are red in bud, becoming blue as they expand, as in Myosotis, Echium, Symphytum and others . The flowers are generally regular; the form of the corolla varies widely . Thus in borage it is rotate, tubular in comfrey, funnel-shaped in hounds-tongue, and salver-shaped in alkanet (Anchusa); the throat is often closed byscale-like outgrowths from the corolla, forming the so-called corona . A departure from the usual regular corolla occurs in Echium and a few allied genera, where it is oblique; in Lycopsis it is also bent .

The five stamens alternate in position with the lobes of the corolla . The ovary, of two carpels, is seated on a

ring-like disk I . Single flower, about nat. size . 6 . Calyx surrounding nutlets . 2 . Corolla split open . 3 . Calyx . 4 . Pistil . 5 .

One stamen . which secretes

honey. median constriction in ovule; the style springs divisions . The flowers show well-marked adaptation to insect-visits . Their colour and tendency to arrangement on one surface, with the presence of honey, serve to attract insects . The scales around the throat of the corolla protect the pollen and honey from wet or undesirable visitors, and by their 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 consists of one-seeded nutlets, generally four, but one or more may be undeveloped . The shape of the nutlet and the character of its coat are very varied . Thus in Lithospermum the nutlets are hard like a stone, in Myosotis usually polished, in Cynoglossum covered with bristles, &c . The order is widely spread in temperate and tropical regions, and contains 85 genera with about 1200 species . Its chief centre is the Mediterranean region, whence it extends over central 7 . Same part of calyx cut away . 8 .

Two nutlets . 9 . Same enlarged . Each carpel becomes divided by a four portions, each containing one from the centre of the

group of four Europe and Asia, becoming less frequent northwards . A smaller centre occurs on the Pacific side of North America . The order is less developed in the south temperate zone . The order is of little economic value . Several genera, such as borage and Pulmonaria, were formerly used in medicine, and the roots yield purple or brown dyes, as in Alkanna tinctoria (alkanet) . Heliotrope or cherry-pie (Heliotropium peruvianum) is a well-known garden plant .