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Borago officinalis

Annual

HomeAnnualBorago officinalis

Waste ground near houses in Britain.

Family: Boraginaceae
Height: 0.6 m / 2 ft
Sun, Semi-shade
Light, Medium and Heavy Soil
Dry to Moist

Plant Rating

Edible Uses: 3 of 5
Medicinal Uses: 3 of 5
Other Uses: 3 of 5

Native Habitat

Borage, Common borage,Cool-tankard, Tailwort Borago officinalis native habitat is Waste ground near houses in Britain.

Edible Uses

Leaves - raw or cooked. They can be used as a pot-herb or be added to salads. They are also added whole as a flavouring to various drinks such as Pimms and wine-based drinks. The leaves are rich in potassium and calcium, they have a salty cucumber flavour. Very hairy, the whole leaves have an unpleasant feeling in the mouth and so they are best chopped up finely and added to other leaves when eaten in a salad. The leaves should always be used fresh, because they lose their flavour and colour if dried. Flowers - raw. They are used as a decorative garnish on salads and summer fruit drinks. The flowers are very nice, both to look at and to taste with a sweet slightly cucumber-like flavour. A refreshing tea is made from the leaves and/or the flowers. The dried stems are used for flavouring beverages. The seed yields 30% oil, 20% of which is gamma-linolenic acid. Total yields are 0.35 - 0.65 tonnes per hectare. Unfortunately, the seed ripens intermittently over a period of time and falls from the plant when it is ripe, this makes harvesting the seeds in quantity very difficult. An edible blue dye can be obtained from the flowers. It is used to colour vinegar.

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