The challenge from #wildflowerhour this week is to find a member of the Borage family.
The Boraginaceae are characterised by having hairy or bristly-stems. An exception to this being the uncommon Oysterplant, Mertensia maritima, which is hairless.
The leaves are arranged alternately up the stem. The distinctive pink/blue five-petalled flowers usually have five stamens and are arranged in a curved or forked cyme which resembles a fiddle-neck.
This can be seen clearly in the image below of Viper’s-bugloss, Echium vulgare, as can the characteristic of the flowers opening at the base of the cyme and finishing at the terminal flower bud.
Like the Deadnettle family, the Borage family has fruits comprised of four nutlets. However as mentioned earlier the leaves in the Boraginaceae are arranged alternately whilst in the Laminaceae they are opposite.
Examples of the Boraginaceae family which flower in the spring include Lungwort, Pulmonaria officinalis. This lovely example was photographed by wildflowerhour member @sconzani
Green Alkanet, Pentaglottis sempervirens pictured below can also be found flowering early in the year.
As can some of the forget-me-not’s. The image below is Water Forget-me-not, Myosotis scorpioides.
Some other members of the Boraginaceae to look out for later in the season, include Comfrey, Borage, Hound’s Tongue, the Gromwell’s and the rare Common Fiddleneck, which unusually for this family has yellow flowers.
Post your planty pics for #wildflowerhour on Sunday 1st April between 8-9pm on Twitter, Instagram or in our Facebook group using the hashtag #boragechallenge.
#boragechallenge – Curated tweets by wildflower_hour
from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2018/03/27/challenge-find-a-member-of-the-borage-family/
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