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Borage family
Boraginaceae Juss.
ムラサキ科
A family of about 2,700 species distributed from temperate to tropical regions. In Japan, Lithospermum, Myosotis (forget-me-not), Bothriospermum, Omphalodes, and Symphytum (comfrey) are native or cultivated. Many species have rough hairs on stems and leaves, and blue-purple flowers are common.
Key Characteristics
- ●Stems and leaves bear abundant coarse hairs (silicified bristles)
- ●Flowers are often blue to purple, borne in scorpioid cymes (helicoid cymes)
- ●Corolla is funnelform to salverform, 5-lobed, with fornices (throat appendages)
- ●Fruit splits into 4 nutlets (mericarps)
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate / Opposite
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Dentate / Entire / Crenate
Growth form
Shrub / Tree / Vine / Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Stipules
Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic / Zygomorphic
Petal count
Many
Petal fusion
Free / Fused
Ovary position
Superior
Stamen count
5 / 6 / 7-10
Plant sex
Dioecious / Hermaphrodite
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core Eudicots > Boraginales > Boraginaceae
Divergence Era
Paleogene (ca. 50 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Evolution of the distinctive scorpioid cyme (helicoid cyme) inflorescence type
- ・Development of physical herbivore defense through silicified bristles
- ・Adaptation to bee pollination through blue anthocyanin pigments
Plants in Borage family on this site
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