THE BOEAGE. 



Borago ojficiiialis. Nat. Ord., Boraginace&. 



T first sight the subject of our 

 present illustration scarcely seems 

 to have full claim to rank amongst 

 our indigenous plants, but it has 

 been so long cultivated in gardens, 

 and is so frequently met with on 

 waste ground and rubbish-heaps, 

 that it is thoroughly naturalised, and 

 is often found under circumstances 

 that forbid us to believe that it is a 

 recent escape from cultivation. The 

 borage was held in high repute in 

 the Middle Ages, and was largely grown 

 in the herb-garden ; and it is very possible 

 that this is the cause that we now find 

 it so widely distributed, as when it is 

 once established in a garden, we know by 

 experience that it is a very difficult plant to entirely 

 eradicate. This fact would act in two ways : it would, 

 in the first place, make it sometimes necessary to get 

 rid of it in the garden, as, instead of keeping in rea- 

 sonable bounds, it is greatly given to encroach on land 

 wanted for other purposes; and, secondly, this strong 

 vitality would enable it to survive when flung out on 



