Os'si-mum. Aromatic herbs (rarely shrubs) comprising 150 species, the one below cultivated for its fragrant, edible foliage.

Description
Leaves opposite, mostly toothed. Flowers small, irregular, crowded in whorls grouped in branching racemes. Corolla very small, usually not exceeding the toothed calyx, the lobes or teeth recurved in fruit.

How to Grow
Sprouts quickly and easily from seeds sown indoors in warm soil about 8 weeks before last frost. Set outdoors when danger of frost is past. Sow seeds in warm soil in full sun. To rejuvenate plants, cut back to half the stem length, feed generously, and water. Where seasons are warm and long, sow again in midsummer. Prefers warm weather.

Ocimum Basilicum
Basil ; Sweet Basil . 1-2 ft. (30-60 cm) high. Leaves ovalish, 3-5 in. (7.5-12.5 cm) long. Flowers small, white or purplish. Tropical Old World. Several ornamental cultivars, including 'Dark Opal', with purple leaves; 'Spicy Globe', with very fine leaves; and 'Citriodorum', with lemon-scented leaves. Tender annual.

Taylor's Guide for Annuals, by Norman Taylor, revised and edited by Gordon P. DeWolf, Jr. Copyright © 1986 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.