Results for Boraginaceae
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Sci-Tech Dictionary:

Boraginaceae

(bə¦ra·jə′nās·ē′ē)

(botany) A family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales comprising mainly herbs and some tropical trees.


 
 
Veterinary Dictionary: Boraginaceae

A plant family which contains the well-known poisonous plants Heliotropum, Echium, Amsinckia and Trichodesma spp. Common source of pyrrolizidine alkaloids.

 
WordNet: Boraginaceae
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a widely distributed family of plants distinguished by circinate flowers and nutlike fruit
  Synonyms: family Boraginaceae, borage family


 
Wikipedia: Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae
Forget-me-not (Myosotis discolor)
Forget-me-not (Myosotis discolor)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Family: Boraginaceae
Juss.
Genera

many, see text

Boraginaceae Juss. 1789, the Borage or Forget-me-not family, includes a variety of shrubs, trees, and herbs, totaling about 2,000 species in 100 genera found worldwide. A number of familiar plants belong to this family.

The Boraginaceae belong, according to the APG II, among the euasterid I group including the orders Gentianales, Lamiales, and Solanales, but whether they should be assigned to one of these orders or to their own (Boraginales) is still uncertain. Under the older Cronquist system they were included in the Lamiales, but it is now clear that they are no more similar to the other families in this order than they are to families in several other asterid orders. The Boraginaceae are paraphyletic with respect to Hydrophyllaceae and the latter is included in the former in APG II system. In some recent classifications the Boraginaceae are broken up into several families: Boraginaceae s.s., Cordiaceae, Ehretiaceae, Heliotropiaceae, Hydrophyllaceae, and Lennoaceae.

Most though not all members of this family have hairy leaves. The coarse character of the hairs is due to Silicon dioxide and Calcium carbonate. In some species, Anthocyanins cause the flowers to change their color from red to blue when aging. This is likely used as a signal to pollinators that these old flowers are depleted of pollen and nectar (Hess, 2005).

Well-known members include:

Genera

  • Actinocarya
  • Adelocaryum
  • Afrotysonia
  • Alkanna
  • Amblynotus
  • Amphibologyne
  • Amsinckia
  • Anchusa
  • Ancistrocarya
  • Anoplocaryum
  • Antiotrema
  • Antiphytum
  • Arnebia
  • Asperugo
  • Auxemma
  • Borago
  • Bothriospermum
  • Bourreria (Strongbark)
  • Brachybotrys
  • Brunnera
  • Buglossoides
  • Caccinia
  • Mattiastrum
  • Mertensia
  • Metaeritrichium
  • Microcaryum
  • Microula
  • Mimophytum
  • Moltkia
  • Moltkiopsis
  • Moritzia
  • Myosotidium
  • Myosotis
  • Neatostema
  • Nesocaryum
  • Nogalia
  • Nomosa
  • Nonea
  • Ogastemma
  • Omphalodes
  • Omphalolappula
  • Omphalotrigonotis
  • Onosma
  • Onosmodium
Boraginaceae
Enlarge
Boraginaceae

References

  • Diane, N., H. Förther, and H. H. Hilger. 2002. A systematic analysis of Heliotropium, Tournefortia, and allied taxa of the Heliotropiaceae (Boraginales) based on ITS1 sequences and morphological data. American Journal of Botany 89: 287-295 (online abstract here).
  • Gottschling, M., H. H. Hilger 1, M. Wolf 2, N. Diane. 2001. Secondary Structure of the ITS1 Transcript and its Application in a Reconstruction of the Phylogeny of Boraginales. Plant Biology (Stuttgart) 3: 629-636.
  • Hess, Dieter. 2005. Systematische Botanik. ISBN 3-8252-2673-5

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Copyrights:

Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Boraginaceae" Read more

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