Borage
Borage
Borago officinalis
Plantae
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
Annual
Size
Medium
Diet
Photosynthetic
Biome
Temperate grassland
Range
Mediterranean
Movement
Sessile
Breeding
Seeds
Defense
Spines
Status
Common

About

Borage is a Mediterranean annual herb famous for its vivid star-shaped blue flowers — one of the few truly blue edible blooms — that taste faintly of cucumber. It self-seeds prolifically and has been grown in kitchen gardens for centuries as both a culinary garnish and a companion plant that attracts pollinators.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    seed
    A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
  2. 2.
    sprout
    A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
  3. 3.
    sapling
    A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
  4. 4.
    mature
    Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida
Order
Boraginales
Family
Boraginaceae
Genus
Borago
Species
Borago officinalis