Lime Basil Ocimum americanum

LATIN NAME: Ocimum americanum

COMMON NAME: Lime Basil

The lime basil is a handsome, upright, branching, aromatic, annual or short-lived perennial herb of the warm, sunny places, and its fine, oval, pointed, glossy, fragrant leaves and its long, upright spikes of the many small, white or pale-purple, two-lipped flowers have made it a treasured and fine plant of the herb garden. It grows as an upright, branching, aromatic herb, reaching up to sixty centimetres or more, with the many upright, branching stems bearing the opposite, oval, pointed, glossy, strongly fragrant leaves and, through the warm months, the long, upright spikes of the many small, white or pale-purple, two-lipped flowers, followed by the small, dry, four-seeded fruits. It is a species of the flowering herb in the mint family, and it is native to the warm, sunny places of the Africa and the surrounding regions, while it is treasured for its fine, citrus-scented leaves, and it is known as the lime basil.

In the mint family it is the citrus-scented basil of the warm places, a herb whose glossy, lime-like leaves bring a fresh note to the kitchen.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The lime basil holds a place in the herb-science papers of the fragrant plants, where the glossy leaves are studied for their fine, sweet, citrus-like volatile oils. The botanists have mapped its place in the mint family and the warm flora of its native Africa, and the insect ecologists have watched the bees and the many insects come to the long spikes of the small flowers. It is a herb of the kitchen and the garden in one, and the growers of the culinary herbs keep it in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the herb garden, the lime basil is the glossy, citrus-scented herb of the sunny border. Its flower spikes feed the bees, and the fragrant leaves give the garden a fresh, warm scent. The leaves have been used fresh in the fine cooking, the salads and the teas of the warm regions, and the herb grows well in the rich, moist, well-drained ground of the warm, sunny spot. Citrus-scented, glossy and fragrant.

Sprinkle the fine seeds over the surface of pots of fine, moist, free-draining seed compost and just press them in lightly without burying them, since they need a little warmth and light, keep the pots in a warm, bright spot and water them gently, and they’ll be up within days.