239 



found so copiously in the oils of Sage and Lavender as to be capable of being 

 advantageously extracted. 



Examples. Lamium, Mentha, Stachys, Thymus. 



CCXXII. BORAGINE.E. The Borage Tribe. 



Bohagine*, Juss. Gen. 143. (1789) ; R. Brown Prodr. 492. (1810) ; Lindl. Synops. 163. (1829.) 



Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a deeply 

 lobed superior ovarium, and round stems. 



Anomalies. Echium has rather irregular flowers ; Benthamiahas 4 coty- 

 ledons. 



Essential Character.— Ca7y.r persistent, with 4 or 5 divisions. Corolla hypogynous, 

 monopetalous, generally regular, 5-cleft, sometimes 4-cleft, with an imbricate aestivation. 

 Stamens inserted upon the petals, equal to the number of lobes of the corolla, and alternate 

 with them. Ovarium 4-parted, 4-seeded; ovula attached to the lowest point of the cavity 

 (pendulous, K. Br.) ; style simple, arising from the base of the lobes of the ovarium; stigmas 

 simple or bifid. Nuts 4, distinct. Seed separable from the pericarpium, destitute of albumen. 

 Embryo with a superior radicle ; cotyledons parallel with the axis, plano-convex, sometimes 

 4 \— Herbaceous plants or shrubs. Stems round. Leaves alternate, covered with asperities, 

 consisting of hairs proceeding from an indurated enlarged base. Flowers in 1-sided spikea 

 or racemes, or panicles, sometimes solitary and axillary. 



Affinities. Nearly allied to Labiataa, from which they are essentially dis- 

 tinguished by the regularity of the corolla, the presence of 5 fertile stamens, 

 the absence of resinous dots, the round (not square) figure of the stem, and the 

 scabrous alternate leaves. On account of this last character, they are often 

 called Asperifolise. From all other monopetalous orders they are known by 

 the 4 deep lobes of the ovarium, called by Linnean botanists naked seeds. Hy- 

 drophylleae, Heliotropicese, Cordiacese, and Ehretiaceae, are all distinguished by 

 their undivided ovarium, but, together with Boragineae, are known by the 

 quaternary structure of their ovarium and the quinary division of the corolla 

 and stamens. 



Geography. Natives principally of the temperate countries of the northern 

 hemisphere ; extremely abundant in all the southern parts of Europe, the Le- 

 vant, and middle Asia ; less frequent as we approach the arctic circle, and 

 almost disappearing within the tropics. A few species only are found in such 

 latitudes. In North America they are less abundant than in Europe. Pursh 

 reckons but 22 species in the whole of his Flora ; while the little island of 

 Sicily alone contains 35, according to Presl. 



Properties. Soft, mucilaginous, emollient properties, are the usual cha- 

 racteristics of this order ; some are also said to contain nitre, a proof of which 

 is shown by their frequent decrepitation when thrown on the fire. Borago of- 

 ficinalis gives a coolness to beverage in which its leaves are steeped. Echium 

 plantagineum, naturalized in Brazil, is used in that country for the same pur- 

 poses as the Borago officinalis in Europe. PI. Usuelles, 25. The roots of An- 

 chusa tinctoria or Alkanet, Lithospermum tinctorium, Onosma echioides, 

 Echium rubrum, and Anchusa virginica, contain a reddish brown substance 

 used by dyers. This matter is thought to be a peculiar chemical principle ap- 

 proaching the resins. 



Examples. Borago, Lycopsis, Anchusa. 



