Not legally protected till the last update of this website (25/Sep/2021)
Red List (1989) :
Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands
Flowering Time :
December – May
Colour of Flowers:
Blue
Name Derivation :
Borago: ancient name of unknown origin, possibly derived from the Latin word Borra which means rough hair with reference to the stiff hairs the Borago species possess. (Latin origin )
officinalis: Commercially or 'officially' used and sold in shops for medicinal or healing applications. This epithet was given in the past to plants with well-known medicinal properties. (Latin origin )
Description, Habitat and Distribution
Habitat in Europe:
Dry waste places esp. close to cultivated areas.
Preferred habitat in Malta:
Cultivated ground, beside field walls, uncropped fields and often along waysides.
Botanical Description:
Hispid annual; stems 15-70 cm, erect, robust, often branched. Basal leaves 5-20 cm, ovate to lanceolate, petiolate; upper cauline leaves sessile, amplexicaul. Pedicels 5-30 mm, stout, patent or deflexed after anthesis. Calyx 8-15 mm at anthesis, up to 20 mm in fruit; lobes linear-lanceolate, acute, connivent in fruit. Corolla rotate, bright blue, rarely white; tube very short or almost absent; lobes 8-15 mm, lanceolate, acute. Nutlets 7-10 mm, oblong-obovoid.
Chromosome number:
2n=16
Distributional range:
S. Europe naturalised or casual further North
Distributional map in Europe and the Mediterranean region (2018):
Occurrences in Europe. (from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):
the Azores, the Balaeric Islands, Corse, Crete, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Greece, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), ex-Jugoslavia, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta, Turkey (European part), Introduced in  Austria and Liechtenstein, Britain (excl. Northern Ireland and Channel islands), Czeck Republic and Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia and former USSR
Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region. (from Euro+Med Checklist, 2019) Country codes
dAE Ag Al dAz(F J L M P S T) Bl By Ca(C F G H L P T) Co Cr Ct Cy Ga dGg Gr Hs(S) It La Li LS Lt Lu Ma Md(M) Mo Rf(C E K N NW S) Sa Si(M S) Su Tn dTu(A) Tu(E) [Au(A) Br Cs Es Ge Hb(E) He Ho Hu No Po Rm Sk Uk(K)]
Kindly Email if there are papers and publications about local
studies or information about this species to be included in the list above.
Species Images (59 images)
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-0.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-1.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-2.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-3.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-4.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-5.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-6.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-7.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-8.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-9.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-10.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-11.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-12.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-13.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-14.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-15.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-16.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-17.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-18.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-19.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-20.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-21.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-22.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-23.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-24.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-25.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-26.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-27.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-28.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-29.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-30.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-31.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-32.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-33.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-34.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-35.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-36.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-37.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-38.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-39.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-40.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-41.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-42.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-43.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-44.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-45.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-46.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-47.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-48.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-49.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-50.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-51.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-52.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-53.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-54.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-55.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-56.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-57.
Borago officinalis - Image Code: BRGOF-58.
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