The original habitat of the bee bread plant (Borage alamel) is the mountains of Persia and the island of Mosul in Iraq, as well as the regions of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria and the Alps in Europe, where it grows in its wild state and is also grown in Britain and France. The Arabs introduced it to Spain and Portugal (and Andalusia) and it is cultivated in France, Britain and America On large areas due to its medical importance and its many benefits, which we will mention later, it is now grown in Egypt.
identification of bee bread plant ( Borage Alamel)
Stem: It is a hollow, juicy stem ranging from 80 cm to 100 cm in length, with a yellowish-green color. It is covered with thick pointed hairs, which makes it resistant to insect pests. It is also characterized by natural resistance to insect infestations, as it is covered with dense hairs on plant parts.
It is known about the bee bread plant ( Borage Alamel) because it is rich in pollen and nectar, which bees use to feed bee larvae and royal jelly consisting of honey and pollen. It is also called by many terms in the field of beekeeping, and it is rich in protein and every part of this plant is useful to humans, whether the stem or Leaves, flowers, or seeds, and we’ll mention each
Description of the bee bread plant ( Borage Alamel)
Leaves: Simple, alternate on the stem, oval in shape (like lettuce leaf), 11 to 18 cm long, with a short neck, dark green in color, and has a cucumber-like scent.
The flowring shamrakh: the shamrock bears about 20 flowers, in successive turns from bottom to top, which makes the germination period long and dense, and one plant bears 250 shamrocks, and one shamrock bears approximately 20 flowers, and this makes the number of flowers range from 4,000 to 5,000 flowers per plant, and this is the number Too big for other plants.
The cup: is not deep and wide, which makes it easy for bees to reach the nectar, and the amount of nectar is large for the flower compared to other flowers.
Seeds: It has a white color at the beginning of its formation, then green at the beginning of ripening. When it dries, it turns into a dark brown color. The seed of the bee bread plant (Borage Alamel) is characterized by a hard, coarse (kosra) cover, which makes it resistant to environmental conditions. Although its size is less than a grain of rice. It retains its viability for a long period of up to seven years, depending on storage methods and seed treatment.
