Flora of New Zealand Series

Annual, biennial or perennial herbs, less commonly shrubs. Stems and lvs commonly hispid, rarely glabrous. Lvs alternate, exstipulate, simple. Infl. often a scorpioid cyme; fls usually actinomorphic, sometimes somewhat zygomorphic. Calyx 5-toothed or 5-lobed; lobes usually imbricate. Corolla 5-lobed, rotate, cylindric, funnel-shaped or campanulate, commonly blue at anthesis (in introduced spp.); throat (apex of tube) often with 5 scales or invaginations, sometimes with only a rim or tuft of hairs. Stamens 5, inserted on corolla and alternating with lobes. Ovary superior, 2-, or 4-celled by false septa. Style usually gynobasic, occasionally terminal. Stigma simple or 2-lobed. Fr. usually of 2 or 4 nutlets, rarely a drupe. Seed usually non-endospermic, less often endospermic.

SYNOPSIS

The synopsis is adapted from Willis, J. C., A Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns, ed. 7, revised by Airy-Shaw, H. K. (1966).

• A. Subfam. HELIOTROPIOIDEAE. 
• • Style terminal, with glandular ring below apex:
  • Heliotropium L.
• B. Subfam. BORAGINOIDEAE. 
• • Style gynobasic, without glandular ring.
  • 1. Trib. CYNOGLOSSEAE. 
  • • Fls actinomorphic. Style base ± conic. Stigma capitate. Nutlet apices not projecting above points of attachment:
    • CynoglossumMyosotidiumOmphalodes Miller
  • 2. Trib. ERITRICHIEAE. 
  • • Fls actinomorphic. Style base ± conic. Stigma capitate. Nutlet apices projecting above points of attachment:
    • Amsinckia
  • 3. Trib. BORAGINEAE. 
  • • Fls actinomorphic. Style base flat or slightly convex. Stigma simple or 2-lobed. Nutlets with concave attachment area:
    • AnchusaBoragoBrunneraPentaglottisPlumonaria L. Symphytum
  • 4. Trib. LITHOSPERMEAE. 
  • • Fls actinomorphic. Style base flat or nearly so. Stigma usually 2-lobed. Nutlets with flat attachment area:
    • CerintheLithospermumMertensia Roth MyosotisOnosma L.
  • 5. Trib. ECHIEAE. 
  • • Fls zygomorphic, ± 2-lipped. Base of style ± flat. Stigma capitate or 2-fid. Nutlets with flat attachment area:
    • Echium

c. 100 genera, 2000 spp., widespread, mostly Mediterranean and W. Asia.

Many spp. in the genera described below are cultivated in N.Z., especially in rock gardens, and a number of those naturalised are escapes from cultivation. Those genera in the synopsis with authorities have no spp. which are known to be wild, but have spp. which are common in cultivation.

Myosotidium hortensia (Decne.) Baillon, in a monotypic genus endemic to the Chatham Is, is well known as a garden plant in cooler lowland parts of N.Z. This short-lived perennial, has large glossy lvs, glabrous above, a large, dense, corymbose infl., deep blue, occasionally pink or white, fls and large, black, winged nutlets.

Fig. 40. Fls of Boraginaceae. A-B Amsinckia calycina, A lateral view, B front view; C Borago officinalis; D-E Cynoglossum amabile, D lateral view, E front view; F Cerinthe major. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X4Z]