Common name: Hoary Basil, Wild basil, Lemon basil • Hindi: Kali tulasi • Manipuri: Mayangton • Marathi: Ran-tulshi • Tamil: Nai Thulasi • Malayalam: Kattu-tulasi • Telugu: Kukka Thulasi • Kannada: Nayi tulasi • Bengali: Kalo-tulashi • Sanskrit: Kshudraparna, Gambhira
Botanical name: Ocimum americanum Family: Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Synonyms: Ocimum canum
For basil, this one smells really nice and strong (scent holds up well in the heat also). Despite the botanical name americanum, Hoary basil is a native of tropical Africa and Asia. It is a well-known spice in Africa and Asia, where the aerial plant parts are used, for example, to flavour fish soup. Leaf blade ovate, 1-1.7 cm × 5-10 mm, margin serrulate to subentire, ciliate, apex acute, lateral veins 4- or 5-paired. Flower racemes numerous, crowded, erect. Flowers small, white, with protruding stamens.
| Photographed in Imphal, Manipur. |
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