Our next species—the Borage (Borago officinalis)—is not indigenous, but is found wild in many parts, frequently in great abundance. It is a very bristly plant, from one to two feet high, bearing bright blue flowers from June to August. Its stem has spreading branches, and the leaves are obovate, narrowing at the base into the stalk. The upper leaves are narrower than the lower ones, and have shorter petioles. The flowers are of a blue colour, or sometimes almost white, and are drooping on rather long pedicels. The segments of the corolla are spreading and very pointed; and the dark anthers are very conspicuous in the centre of the flower.
The two British Alkanets (Anchusa) are interesting plants, though not very common. They are coarse and hairy, and bear large, blue, bracteate flowers, distinguished by a deeply five-cleft calyx; a corolla with five spreading lobes, and a straight tube closed at the mouth by blunt, hairy scales; and five stamens included within the tube. The fruit consists of rather large wrinkled nuts.
One species, though generally known as the Common Alkanet (Anchusa officinalis), is really a rare plant, occurring only as an escape from cultivation in the neighbourhood of towns and villages. It has an angular stem; narrow leaves—the lower ones very long, on long stalks, and the upper ones smaller; and forked, one-sided, spikes of sessile or shortly-stalked flowers of a rich blue colour. The calyx is bristly, longer than the corolla, and cleft into narrow divisions. This plant grows from one to two feet high, and flowers during June and July.
The Gromwell.
The other species—the Evergreen Alkanet (Anchusa sempervirens)—is not uncommon in some southern and south-western districts. It is a stout, very bristly plant, from one to two feet high, with rather large, blue flowers in short, opposite spikes. It is shown on [Plate III].
Our last flower of the Borage family is the Hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), which is moderately common on waste ground, flowering during June and July. This is an erect plant, from one to two feet high, with a very unpleasant odour. Its stem is stout, branched and hairy; and the leaves are thickly covered with soft down. The lowest leaves are oval, with long stalks, often ten or twelve inches in length; but the upper ones become smaller and narrower, with shorter stalks, till towards the top they are very narrow, sessile, and clasp the stem. The flowers are in racemes, with short pedicels, and have no bracts. The segments of the calyx are narrow and pointed; and the small corolla is of a reddish purple colour. The fruit is covered with little spines and is about a quarter of an inch in diameter.
On dry waysides the Buck's-horn Plantain (Plantago Coronopus—order Plantaginaceæ) is common. It may be readily distinguished as a plantain by its slender, cylindrical spikes of small flowers, and its spreading tuft of radical leaves. This species has a thick rootstock, and its leaves are either linear and undivided, or, more commonly, cut into very narrow segments. The flowers are green, with broad, hairy sepals, the whole spike measuring from one to two inches in length. They bloom during June and July.
The Hound's-Tongue.