Ocimum gratissimum
Ocimum gratissimum L.
Family : Lamiaceae/labiatae
Common Name :രാമതുളസി(Mal)
Wild Basil(Eng)
बन तुलसी (Hin)
Ram Tulsi is a perennial herb, woody at base. Stems grow to 1-3 m long. Leaves broadly to narrowly ovate, usually 5-13 cm long, 3-9 cm wide, surface somewhat hairy. Leaf margin is toothed, tip narrow, base wedge- shaped. Leaf stalks are 1-6 cm long. Flowers are greenish white to greenish yellow, 4-7 mm long. Sepal cup is 3-5 mm long, enlarging up to 7 mm long in fruit. Upper sepal is ovate, and the median lobes of the lower lip are shorter than lateral ones
Shrubs, to 2 m high; stem glandular-scabrid. Leaves simple, opposite, to 12 x 6 cm, elliptic to obovate, acuminate at apex, base attenuate serrate; nerves 6-pairs; thinly tomentose below; petiole to 6 cm long. Racemes terminal, panicles; bracts oblanceolate; flowers 4-6 at each node; pedicel 4 mm long. Calyx 5 mm long, glabrous; upper lip ovate, obtuse, lobes of lower lip acuminate, glandular. Corolla white, tube 2-3 mm long, lobes obtuse. Staminal filaments glabrous or villous at base; anthers sagittate at base. Nutlets 1.5 x 1 mm, pitted, brown.
Uses
The plant is widely used in Ayurvedic and folk medicine, often as an herbal tea for a variety of ailments, and is considered sacred in Hinduism. It is also used as a culinary herb with a pungent flavour that intensifies with cooking.
Distribution
Pantropical
Flowering & Fruiting :
August-December