Day 22: Borage flower tea
- Sarah-Jane Cobley
- Apr 22
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 25
Borago officinalis
My quest is something I like to fit into my everyday life. This means that I take tea with local herbs I can meet within a 20-minute walk or cycle. I like my medicines to be natural, free and right on my doorstep.
Borage is not native and so wherever it is found in the wild it will most likely be a garden escapee. This makes it a rarer find, and its flowers are blue stars! How could I resist?
ID features
The most distinctive feature of borage is its blue star-shaped flowers. They are 5-pointed, with a red 5-pointed calyx which places a sepal between every petal. Within the blue star is a smaller white star with rounded tips, and within this is the male anthers which point together to create a longish black cone. Around this cone are some smaller purple points that merge out of the white portion. Some of the flowers have pink areas or are entirely pink.
It is an extremely hairy plant with coarse white hairs covering the stem, leaves, flower stalks and calyx. The flower stalk and calyx are red so contrast well with the blue flowers. When the flowers drop off, the calyx closes for the seeds to develop. It then looks like a flower bud again.
The leaves alternate on the stem, are rough, oval shaped, deeply veined, and smaller and less numerous than on comfrey, (of which it is a close relative). The flower buds grow out of the leaf base.
Medicinal uses
Borage is commercially grown for its seeds to produce a supplement which is known as starflower oil. It is often combined with evening primrose oil and blackcurrant seed oil and taken to treat PMT, (premenstrual tension). The oil is high in omega-6 fatty acids, especially GLA, (gamma-linolenic acid), which is known for its anti-inflammatory action.
An infusion, (tea), of the leaves can be used both internally and externally as a demulcent to protect sore vulnerable surfaces. As a relative of comfrey, it shares some chemicals and characteristics that stimulate tissue regeneration that comfrey is well known for.
As a saponin containing plant it can be used as an expectorant for productive coughs, particularly helpful in hot conditions, as it is a cooling remedy.
Soldiers would take “Borage for Courage”, and it has also been used for melancholic states to sooth the nervous system and uplift the mood.
However, it is now most well known by modern herbalists as being an adrenal gland restorative. The adrenal glands sit above the kidneys and are responsible for mounting an adequate stress response. They produce hormones like cortisol, adrenalin and androgens.
When the body is placed under long-term sustained stress, the adrenal gland run out of resources to create the necessary hormones. This can cause disruption to normal functioning and is characterized by exhaustion.
Borage has an affinity for the adrenal glands, feeding them to restore their capacity and proper functioning. Nettle seeds can also help with this, as well as liquorice.
How to make a cuppa
I picked off a few flowers, some with the red calyxes and some without. The calyx quickly lost its red colour and became green in the water. The blue flowers remained blue, and the water hardly changed, perhaps a little yellowish.
I could have added the leaves but didn’t have my scissors and they are bristly and can cause irritation when picked.
Taste
It was a very mild tea, tasting ever so slightly of cucumber and watermelon, just like comfrey does. I didn’t notice the water turning mucilaginous; there was no silky texture to the tea, however, on eating the flowers this quality was detected.
Eating the flowers also had a slight sweetness to them. I did not detect a scent.
Cautions
Due to the plant containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids, it is advised to avoid long-term consumption in order to avoid liver damage. However, the alkaloids are not well extracted in water like they are in alcoholic tinctures and a herbalist would prescribe borage along with a liver protecting herb like milk thistle or artichoke.
Avoid in cases of liver disease, pregnancy and lactation. Especially in tincture form.
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For those Local to me:
My next herb walk is at 6.30pm on Ashton Court on Tuesday 22nd April. Meet at the entrance to the rose garden with a flask of hot water for a foraged tea. We must be mindful that the gates to the grounds are shut at sunset, (8pm), and so we will finish promptly at 7.40pm.
£10 cash on arrival, or pre-pay option via: https://www.healthneedsthyme.co.uk/services
Herbal Medicine Consultations
I am a qualified medical herbalist, trained in much the same way as a GP. However, my medicines are from nature's medicine chest. They nourish and strengthen so that your body can heal itself. I offer consultations via video call and send tonics out in the post. Email me to book an appointment: sarah-janecobley@healthneedsthyme.co.uk
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