Borage (/ˈbʌrɪdʒ/ ⓘ[2] or /ˈbɒrɪdʒ/;[3] Borago officinalis), also known as starflower, is an annual herb in the flowering plant family Boraginaceae native to the Mediterranean region.

In Liguria, Italy, borage (in Italian, borragine) is commonly used as a filling of the traditional pasta ravioli and pansoti.

[22] Borage is traditionally used as a garnish in the Pimms Cup cocktail,[16] but is nowadays often replaced by a long sliver of cucumber peel or by mint.

The author of Cups and their Customs notes that a sprig or two of borage "communicates a peculiar refreshing flavour" to any cool drink.

[23] In Persian cuisine, borage tea (using the dried purple flowers) is called گل گاوزبان : gol gâvzabân, "cow's-tongue-flower".

Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides said that borage was the nepenthe (νηπενθές : nēpenthés) mentioned in Homer, which caused forgetfulness when mixed with wine.

[34] Francis Bacon thought that borage had "an excellent spirit to repress the fuliginous vapour of dusky melancholie".

[33] John Gerard's Herball mentions an old verse concerning the plant: "Ego Borago, Gaudia semper ago (I, Borage, bring always joys)".

The leaves and flowers of Borage put into wine make men and women glad and merry and drive away all sadness, dullness and melancholy, as Dioscorides and Pliny affirm.

Syrup made of the flowers of Borage comfort the heart, purge melancholy and quiet the frantic and lunatic person.