572 CLIV. BORRAGINE^S. 



anatropous or semi-anatropous. FRUIT composed of 4 distinct or geminate nucules, 

 or a drupe with 2-4 kernels. SEEDS inverted, straight, or a little arched ; albumen 

 0, or reduced to a fleshy layer. EMBRYO straight or a little curved ; radicle superior. 



[Borraginece have been thus classified by De Candolle : 



TRIBE I. CORDIE.E. Ovary undivided ; style terminal (rarely 0), twice forked. Fruit 

 indehiscent, usually fleshy, 4-seeded. Cotyledons longitudinally folded. Albumen 0. Shrubs 

 or trees. See CORDIACE*;, p. 573. 



TRIBE II. EHRETIE^E. Ovary undivided ; style terminal, 2-lobed. Fruit indehiscent, 4- 

 seeded. Cotyledons flat. Albumen scanty, fleshy. Shrubs or small trees. Ehretia, Tourne. 

 foriia, &c. 



TRIBE III. HELIOTROPIEJE. Ovary several- celled ; style terminal, simple. Fruit dry, 

 entire, or separating into cocci. Albumen scanty or 0. Cotyledons flat. Heliotropium, 

 Heliophytum, &c. 



TRIBE IV. BORRAGE.S:. Ovary of 2 2-celled or 2-partite carpels ; style ventral or basal. 

 Fruit 2-4-partite. Seeds exalbuminous. Herbs, rarely shrubs. 



Sub- tribe 1. CERINTHE^;. Corolla regular, throat naked. Carpels 2, 2-celled. Nucules 

 with a flat areole, seated on a flat torus. Gerintlie. 



Sub-tribe 2. EcniEjE. Corolla irregular, throat naked. Carpels 4. Nucules distinct, 

 with a flat imperforate areole, seated on a flat torus. Lobostemon, Echium, &c. 



Sub-tribe 3. ANCIIUSE.E. Corolla regular, with scales under the middle of the lobes. 

 Nucules 4, dehiscing transversely at the base, which hence appears perforate or excavated. 

 Nonnea, Borrago, Symphytum, Anchusa, Lycojjsis, &c. 



Sub-tribe 4. LITHOSPERME*. Corolla regular, with or without fornices. Nucules 4, 

 distinct, 1-celled, with a minute flat imperforate base. Onosma, Moltlda, LitJiospermum, 

 Mcrtensia, Pulmonaria, All-anna, Myosotis, &c. 



Sub-tribe 5. CYNOGLOSSE.S. Corolla regular, with or without fornices. Nucules 4, usually 

 echinate or winged, imperforate at the base, very obliquely inserted on the torus. Eritrichium, 

 Echinospermum, Cynoglossum, Omphahdes, Mattia, Trichodesma, &c. 



Sub-tribe 6. ROCHELIEJE. Corolla regular. Ovary of 2 1-celled 1-seeded carpels adnate 

 to the style. Itochelia."] 



Borragineee, approach Labiates and Vwbenacece in the insertion and aestivation of the corolla, 

 arrangement of the carpels and style, anatropous ovules, nature of the fruit, and usually the absence 

 of albumen ; but in Labiata and Verbtnacece the corolla is very irregular, the stamens are didynamous, 

 the ovules erect or ascending, the stem square, and the leaves opposite. There is also an affinity 

 between the tribe Ehrctieee and Cordiacece, founded on the insertion, regularity and isostemony of the 

 corolla, the pendulous anatropous ovules, terminal bifid style, fleshy fruit, absent or scanty albumen, and 

 alternate leaves ; the diagnosis principally rests on the contorted aestivation of Cordiacete and their longi- 

 tudinally folded cotyledons. Borragineoe inhabit [chiefly] extra-tropical temperate regions, and especially 

 the Mediterranean region and Central Asia. The tribe of Ehretiece is chiefly tropical. Many species 

 contain a mucilage, to which is often added a bitter astringent principle, to which they owe their medi- 

 cinal qualities. The root of the Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is employed in cases of haemoptysis. The 

 leaves of the Borage (Boivapo officirialis) are filled with a viscous juice abounding in nitrates, whence 

 their diuretic and sudorific properties. Cynoglossum officinale, the poisonous smelling root of which was 

 a reputed narcotic, is now only administered with opium. The following are no longer used : Puhnotxtria 

 officinalis, of which the white spotted leaves, like a tubercled lung, were employed in lung diseases; 



