Ocimum americanum
Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record
Image 1
Leaves and flower structures
13 Dec 2008
Image 2
Habit
18 Dec 2006
Image 3
Flowers
18 Dec 2006
Image 4
Leaves
21 Mar 2008
Image 5
Flowers
27 Apr 2008
Image 6
Leaves and branching
27 Apr 2008
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Full name: | Ocimum americanum L. |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Boesmansboegoe, Transvaal basielkruid, Wilde basielkruid, Bostee |
| English common name(s): | Hairy basil, Hoary basil, Transvaal basil, Bush tea |
| Synonym(s): | Ocimum americanum L. var. americanum (1755) Ocimum canum Sims Ocimum dinteri Briq. (1903) Ocimum fruticulosum Burch. (1824) Ocimum canum var. integrifolium Engl. Ocimum hispidulum Schumach. & Thonn. Ocimum petitianum A.Rich. (1850) Ocimum stramineum Sims Ocimum thymoides Baker (1900) |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Erect perennial herb or soft shrublet, up to 80 cm. Leaves opposite, linear-lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate to elliptic, variously pubescent on both surfaces, densely gland-dotted below. Margins entire or with a few small teeth. Inflorescences terminal, simple or sparingly branched. Calyx densely hairy, lower lip spreading, deeply 2-lobed. Corolla lilac, mauve or white. (from Flora of Zimbabwe website) Annual or short-lived perennial herb or subshrub, 0.15–0.6 m tall, with simple hairs only; stems with mostly short retrorse or appressed hairs. Leaves petiolate; blade narrowly ovate or elliptic, up to 11–55 x 4–25 mm, apex acute, base cuneate, margin entire to shallowly serrate. Inflorescences lax; bracts persistent or deciduous. Fruiting calyx 4–5 mm long, open, hairy in the throat; upper lobe suborbicular, c. 3 x 3 mm, rounded at the base; lateral lobes deltoid, cuspidate; lower lobes not connate, lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla 4–6 mm long, white or pale mauve. Anterior stamens 1–3 mm longer than the lower lip of the corolla. Nutlets c. 1.6 x 0.8 mm, almost smooth, black, producing mucilage when wet. (from JSTOR website / Flora Somalia) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie |
| Content last updated: | 13 Mar 2012 |
