BONNAYA (named after Bonnay, a German botanist). ORD. Scrophulariaceæ. A small genus of usually glabrous, rarely pilose, slender, creeping or erect, annual, biennial, or perennial stove plants, almost unknown in cultivation. Flowers axillary, opposite, or alternate from abortion, usually pedicellate, the upper ones sometimes racemose, pinkish, or blue. Leaves opposite, quite entire, or toothed. They thrive in a rich sandy loam. The annual species are propagated by seeds, the others by divisions and cuttings.
BONNETIA (commemorative of Charles Bonnet, a French naturalist, who wrote some botanical papers in 1754). ORD. Ternstrœmiaceæ. A genus of elegant middle-sized stove trees or shrubs. Flowers large, terminal; peduncles one or many-flowered. Leaves scattered, exstipulate, coriaceous, entire, one-nerved, marked with transverse veins, sub-sessile, narrowed to the base. They thrive well in a mixture of loam and peat. Cuttings of firm young shoots will root if placed in sand under a hand glass, in a moderate heat.
B. sessilis (stalkless). fl. purplish, terminal. l. oblong, coriaceous, entire. h. 15ft. Guiana, 1819.
BORAGE. See [Borago officinalis.]
BORAGINACEÆ. A large order of herbs or shrubs, having spirally-coiled inflorescence; corolla usually regular and five-lobed, with an imbricated æstivation; throat generally hairy; stamens five, inserted in the corolla. Leaves alternate, rough. Among other genera belonging to this order may be named Anchusa, Borago, Cynoglossum, Echium, Lithospermum, and Myosotis.
BORAGO (derivation very uncertain; probably a corruption of some eastern name). Borage. ORD. Boraginaceæ. A genus of hardy herbaceous perennials or annuals, excellently adapted for naturalising in dry stony places. Flowers blue, panicled, drooping; corolla rotate; throat furnished with emarginate vaulted processes; anthers distinct, oblong or lanceolate, awned, fixed by the inner side, conniving into a cone. Nuts four, one-celled, turbinate, fixed to the bottom of the calyx. Leaves oblong or lanceolate. All the species are easily cultivated, thriving in any common soil. Propagated by divisions, in spring, or by striking the young cuttings in a cold frame. They may also be raised from seed, which should be sown from March to May, in any good garden soil, and the plants, when large enough, thinned out to 1ft. or more apart. In hot weather, Borage is generally in demand for claret cup and other drinks.
B. laxiflora (loose-flowered).* fl. on long pedicels, racemose, drooping; corolla pale blue; segments ovate, bluntish, erectly spreading. May to August. l. oblong, and rough from strigæ; radical ones rosulate; cauline ones half stem-clasping. Stem decumbent, many from the same root, hispid from retrograde bristles. Corsica, 1813. (B. M. 1789.)
B. longifolia (long-leaved).* fl. disposed in a terminal bracteate panicle; corolla blue; segments ovate, acute, spreading. July and August. l. linear-lanceolate, scabrous and downy beneath; cauline ones half stem-clasping. h. 1ft. Numidia, 1825.
FIG. 265. FLOWER OF BORAGO OFFICINALIS.
B. officinalis (officinal).* Common Borage. fl. blue, purple, or white; segments of the corolla limb ovate, acute, spreading. June to September. l., lower ones obovate, attenuated at the base; cauline ones oblong, sessile, sub-cordate at the base. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Britain. This is the kind most cultivated in gardens for flavouring. See Fig. 265. (Sy. En. B. 36.)