Borage

 

Native to Europe, this member of the genus Borago and member of the family Boraginaceae bears the species name of Borago officinalis. He is a self-seeding annual who tends to spread and sprawl throughout the garden in an unruly and beautiful manner. He can grow typically from one to three feet tall, is covered in fuzz, and makes these delightful usually blue-purple five-pointed flowers – which give him the nickname Starflower. Borage is one of the few blue foods out there, so if one is eating a color-based diet it would be optimal to have access to one of these plants to get a daily dose of blue (although some are more purple than blue).

Borage’s constituents include mucilage, tannins, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids – the latter of which can be toxic to the liver (hepatoxicity). I think comfrey has that pyrrolizidine too. Borage is an astringent, anti-inflammatory, mild nerve calmer, and adrenal stimulant. He is a galactagogue indicating that he stimulates milk production. The mucilaginous content of Borage means that he is a demulcent which coats the nerve endings to protect them. As an expectorant, he stimulates mucous to be secreted in the bronchi, which helps to flush the body through phlegm and snot of toxins sickness bacteria. Large amounts of essential fatty acids, mainly gamma-linolenic acid or GLA (which is an omega 6) exist in this plant. We need GLA to make the lipid group called prostaglandins which is used in the body for many things including contracting and releasing smooth muscle tissue.

Rosemary Gladstar says that you can take borage tea for breast tenderness around moon time. Michael Tierra says to take the tincture for lung congestion, heart problems, and fever. Taken as a capsule supplement, borage seed oil will treat both eczema and dermatitis and reduce inflammation of rheumatism. The leaves are a diuretic, and the flowers encourage sweating. Flowers are also made into an infusion to regulate hormones and metabolism. Use a cough syrup for colds, bronchitis, asthma, etc. Matthew Wood says that borage could be a part of treatment for the following exhaustion, low spirits, insomnia, dizziness, melancholy, menopause, hot flashes, heavy-heartedness, softening the cervix for pregnant women, pleurisy, bronchitis, colds, fever with mucous, scarlet fever, chicken pox, heart palpitations, varicose veins, sore and inflamed eyes.

Borage is used in companion planting to protect legumes, brassicas, and tomatoes and it’s best when used fresh so we ought to all be growing some. Grows well in poor soils, and propagate from seed, division, or cuttings. Bees love Borage! 

Use the leaves, flowers, and the oils from the stems. Prepare as a syrup, capsule, tincture, tea infusion, dried powder, fermentation, jam or jelly. Add to skin crèmes and salves, eyewashes, soaps, beeswax candles, Add young leaves and flowers to salads, omelettes, sandwiches, etc. Freeze the flowers in ice cubes to make glasses of water become pretty, flavorful, and medicinal. Candy the flowers by: mixing hot water and flax seeds (a reasonable ratio is 2T flax seed to ½ - ¾ cup water), straining the water once it’s gelatinous, painting the flowers or dipping them in, grinding sugar in a coffee grinder or food processor, and dipping or dropping the flowers in the superfine sugar.