Lamiaceae
African basil
Ocimum gratissimum
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Genus
- Ocimum
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Common names
By language (25)
- Amharic
- ኣንጨባ
- Arabic
- حبق بهيج
- arz
- حبق بهيج
- azb
- گؤزل ریحان
- Azerbaijani
- Gözəl reyhan
- Chinese
- 丁香罗勒, 丁香羅勒, 美羅勒, 印度零陵香, 丁香罗, 美罗勒
- English
- African basil, Clove basil, Wild basil
- ff
- Kacuke
- Finnish
- Pensasbasilika
- guw
- Ṣanmadídó
- Indonesian
- Selasih mekah
- Japanese
- インドメボウキ
- Lingala
- Lumba lumba
- Malagasy
- Romba
- Malayalam
- കാട്ടുതുളസി, കാ ട്ടുതുളസി, സുമുഖം
- Marathi
- अजवला
- Persian
- اسیموم گراتیسیموم
- Polish
- Bazylia eugenolowa
- Russian
- Базилик эвгенольный
- Spanish
- Geniosporum discolor
- Tamil
- பெருந்துளசி
- Telugu
- రామ తులసి
- Thai
- กะเพราควาย
- Vietnamese
- Hương nhu trắng
- Yoruba
- Efinrin
Flowers
- In flower
- June, October to April (from 27 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb, Subshrub
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- In the US and Canada
- Hawaii: introduced
Photos
FlowerPhoto: Dr. Alexey Yakovlev, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: i_c_riddell, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: 葉子, CC0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Hungda, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: rosshawkins, CC0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Lazaregagnidze, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Pradeepkannamkulath, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: 謝麗霦, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Pradeepkannamkulath, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Jon Sullivan, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
More in Ocimum
- BasilOcimum basilicumLamiaceae
- Holy basilOcimum tenuiflorumLamiaceae
- American basilOcimum americanumLamiaceae
- Lemon basilOcimum × africanumLamiaceae
- African blue basilOcimum kilimandscharicumLamiaceae
- Least basilOcimum campechianumLamiaceae
- Pink sage bushOcimum labiatumLamiaceae
- Ocimum filamentosumLamiaceae
- Ocimum grandiflorumLamiaceae
- Ocimum kenyenseLamiaceae
- Cat's whiskersOcimum obovatumLamiaceae
- Ocimum angustifoliumLamiaceae
Sources: classification from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.