| Noun | 1. | family Boraginaceae - a widely distributed family of plants distinguished by circinate flowers and nutlike fruitorder Polemoniales, Polemoniales - Polemoniaceae; Solanaceae; Boraginaceae; Labiatae; Lentibulariaceae; Pedaliaceae; in some classifications includes the order Scrophulariales Cordia, genus Cordia - tropical deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs of the family Boraginaceae genus Mertensia, Mertensia - a genus of herbs belonging to the family Boraginaceae that grow in temperate regions and have blue or purple flowers shaped like funnels | |