Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Lamiales > Lamiaceae > Ocimum > Ocimum basilicum

Ocimum basilicum (sweet basil)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Basil UK /ˈbæzəl/; US /ˈbeɪzəl/ (Ocimum basilicum), also called great basil or Saint-Joseph's-wort, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is also called the "king of herbs" and the "royal herb". The name "basil" comes from Greek βασιλικόν φυτόν (basilikón phutón), "royal/kingly plant".
View Wikipedia Record: Ocimum basilicum

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Low
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Bees
Scent [2]  The leaves are strongly aromatic. There are many named forms with different scents.
Structure [3]  Herb
Usage [2]  An essential oil obtained from the whole plant is used as a food flavouring and in perfumery, dental applications etc; An average yield of 1.5% essential oil is obtained from the flowering tops; When applied to the skin it makes a good mosquito repellent; The growing or dried plant is an effective insect repellent. It is a good plant to grow in the home, where it repels flies, or in the greenhouse where it can keep all manner of insect pests away from nearby plants; It has been used in the past as a strewing herb;
Height [2]  18 inches (0.45 m)
Width [2]  12 inches (0.3 m)
View Plants For A Future Record : Ocimum basilicum

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Gombe National Park II 8799 Tanzania
Mahale Mountains National Park II 398414 Tanzania
Mount Kulal Biosphere Reserve 1729738 Kenya  

Predators

Planococcus minor (Pacific mealybug)[4]
Strymon bazochii (Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak)[5]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 4Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 5Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0