Borago officinalis

Borage

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Borage is a naturalized perennial found in the Central Coast, San Francisco Bay, and Southern California coastal areas in open, disturbed sites at elevations below 550 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces bright blue flowers with a distinctive rotate corolla about 18 to 20 millimeters in diameter. Growing with branching stems 20 to 70 centimeters tall, it develops from a robust taproot. Its lower leaves are large and broad, measuring 8 to 20 centimeters long and 3 to 8 centimeters wide. The fruit consists of small nutlets approximately 5 to 7 millimeters long.

Habitat: Open, disturbed sites

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: < 550 m

Bioregions: CCo, SnFrB, SCo

California counties: Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Marin, Solano, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Contra Costa, Ventura, San Diego, Nevada, Sacramento, Tulare, Humboldt, Alameda, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.