Thank you to UBC Botanical Garden horticulturist Jackie Chambers for today's photographs and write-up, much appreciated!
A fine example of Trachystemon orientalis can be found in the David C. Lam Asian Garden here at UBC. The coarse-textured, heart-shaped leaves are bright green and reach 25-30cm long. However, it is the dainty blue flowers, currently in bloom, that are the most striking feature of this perennial groundcover.
The flowers are held on hairy, purple flower stalks of 15-30cm in height. Flower stalks emerge in early spring (March-April) before the leaves have reached full size. Individual flowers are about 1cm in diameter, and are hermaphroditic - meaning they have both staminate (pollen producing) and carpellate (ovule producing) structures (additional photographs). Stiff hairs and blue flowers are typical features of members of Boraginaceae.
Trachystemon is derived from the Greek trachys, meaning rough, and stemon, a stamen. The species name orientalis means eastern or from the orient, and is a reference to the native distribution of this species. Trachystemon orientalis is endemic to southeastern Europe and western Asia.
In Turkey, the plant is eaten as a vegetable, and has the common name aci hodan. The flowers, stems, young leaves and rhizome may all be cooked and eaten (see the entry on Trachystemon orientalis on Plants for a Future database).
English common names include Abraham-Isaac-Jacob, and Eastern or Oriental borage. Despite being native to Bulgaria, Turkey, and Georgia, Trachystemon orientalis has naturalized throughout the UK. It was first introduced as an ornamental, but records indicate established escapee populations in some areas of England date back to 1868. Here's a more recent distribution map of Trachystemon orientalis populations in the UK.
From a horticulturist perspective, this plant is an extremely useful groundcover; while it prefers partly shaded woodland locations, it can tolerate full sun to shade, and a range of soil conditions. It even performs well in dry shade which is always a challenge for gardeners.
Trachystemon orientalis - Z6 - RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths
Why is it called "Abraham-Isaac-Jacob"?
Given how widely Trachystemon orientalis has naturalized in the UK (where the climate is similar to the PNW) I would be wary of recommending this as a garden plant. We already have enough weeds to deal with in our natural areas as it is.
A great native perennial Boraginaceae alternative for similar dry shade habitats is the Pacific hound's tongue, Cynoglossum grande. It occurs from SW Washington, south through Oregon to California. While it is also listed for southern B.C. in many floras, according to the Illustrated Flora of BC there are no herbarium specimens documenting any B.C. populations. Still it is worth looking for native populations in oak woodlands in southwestern B.C., given the number of similar peripheral or disjunct southern taxa that occur in these habitats in B.C. There is a nice feature article on this species at http://www.ventanawild.org/news/fe01/houndst.html
Lovely plant but I'd worry about the invasive tendencies......
Wonderful Photographs. The colous, especially blues which don't always come true to colour are just great. To see them at the base of the tree gives me an idea of size.
Thank you,
Margaret-Rae
I love this plant. It's fairly common in moister places along the Bosphorus and along streams in the Black Sea but I've never seen it in huge colonies. I grow it in my garden and have found it to be no more invasive than tall bearded iris. And if you have too much, you can always eat it! (I just had it for dinner by the way.) :)
It is a wonderfull plant.Early in the spring the tiny blue, cyclamenlike flowers are very dainty and in summer the real very lovely green foliage is an excellent soilcover in my wildgarden. I always grow them in semishade.The hottest time of the day thee is shadow. Try them!
Exquisite curls in those blue petals. Like ringlets.
Thank heavens!
I've got this growing in my garden and it's taken 4 hours of google/image searching to find this photo which ID's it!
One of the most useful plants to remember when you walk into a patch of stinging nettles. Just grab a few borage leaves and rub the area that the nettles have caused to burn, and a couple of applications wil almost completely make the stinging disappear.
Great photos!
I was curious about this plant because of its beautiful flowers. I found it alongside the gardens of Turkish immigrants and could grab a few seeds. Raising them from seed is as easy as sowing borage. I now have 2 plants in my garden and look forward to their first flowers!
Elke