Borage (Borago officinalis)
by Matos & Devoto
Borage (Borago officinalis) is a crop valued for its oil, which is used in food, cosmetics, and medicine. Although each flower can fertilize itself, we wanted to know how much the plant really depends on pollinators to produce seeds under real field conditions.
To find out, we ran a simple experiment. We exposed flowers to different types of pollination: natural conditions, self-pollination, wind, and controlled cross-pollination using pollen from other plants. Then we measured how many fruits and seeds each treatment produced.
The results were clear. When flowers received pollen from other plants, they performed much better. Cross-pollination nearly tripled fruit production and more than tripled seed production compared to natural conditions. This means that, in the field, borage plants are not getting enough of the right kind of pollen. In other words, they are pollen-limited.
Surprisingly, this happened even though many honeybee hives were present near the field. This suggests that simply having bees around is not always enough to ensure effective pollination.
Our study shows that good pollination is not just about having pollinators, but about having the right pollination. Supporting diverse pollinator communities and improving pollination management could help increase yields in borage and other crops.
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