Basilicum polystachyon (L.) Moench

Herbs erect. Stems to 1 m tall, glandular, scabrid on angles, puberulent on nodes. Petiole 1-5 cm; leaf blade lanceolate- to triangular-ovate, 2-7 × 1.2-5.5 cm, membranous, subglabrous, densely golden glandular, base broadly cuneate to rounded, margin crenate above base, apex slightly acute; lateral veins 3- or 4-paired. Thyrses numerous, 3-6 cm, pedunculate, puberulent, glandular; bracts obovate-rhombic, ca. 1.5 mm. Calyx ca. 1.5 mm, ovoid-campanulate, minutely hispid near base, glabrous toward apex, sparsely golden glandular; posterior tooth broadly ovate, apex obtuse; lateral teeth smaller, triangular, apex acute; anterior teeth narrow, lanceolate, apex spinescent; fruiting calyx 2-2.5 mm, ovoid, slightly constricted at throat, declined, posterior tooth margin somewhat decurrent, ± conspicuously 10-veined. Corolla white to reddish, straight, cylindric, ca. 2.5 mm, sparsely puberulent, lips glandular, sparsely puberulent at throat just below upper lip inside, tube ca. 2 mm; upper lip lobes ovate, middle lobe longer; lower lip oblong, margin entire, flat, nearly as long as upper lip. Nutlets brown, ovoid, ca. 1 mm. Fl. and fr. Aug.

Stems erect; branches slender, pubescent. Lower stem leaves not seen. Petiole of upper stem leaves ca. 2 cm; leaf blade ovate, ca. 3 × 2 cm, membranous, subglabrous, base strongly attenuate, margin serrate except for apex, apex triangular-acuminate, acute. Verticillasters 6-8-flowered, in decussate terminal thyrses or panicles 5-6 cm; bracts ovate, ca. 1 × 1 mm, apex palmately serrate, hirsute. Pedicel ca. 1 mm, hirsute. Calyx tubular-campanulate, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm, spreading hirsute outside, densely glandular; middle tooth of upper lip subcircular, apex acute, ca. 0.6 mm; lateral teeth linear, ca. 1 mm, ciliate; anterior teeth 2, linear, ca. 1 mm, ciliolate. Corolla tube ca. 2 mm, glabrous, ca. 0.6 mm wide; middle lobe of upper lip hirsute abaxially, circular, lateral lobes circular; lower lip oblong, ca. 1 mm, obtuse, glabrous. Filaments to 0.6 mm. Nutlets ovoid, glabrous.

Hainan, Taiwan [Japan; Africa, Australia].

Waste areas, streamside thickets, valleys; 0-800 m.

* Taiwan.

Ocimum polystachyon Linnaeus, Mant. Pl., ed. 2, 567. 1771; Moschosma polystachya (Linnaeus) Bentham; O. tenuiflorum N. Burman; Plectranthus parviflorus R. Brown.

Aromatic annual herb up to c. 1 m tall. Stems erect, strongly 4-angled, branching above, more or less hairless or with short appressed hairs on the inflorescence axis. Leaves opposite, ovate, up to 5 × 2(3) cm, glandular-punctate, usually hairless or rarely with scattered appressed hairs; margin serrate; petiole 10-35 mm long. Inflorescences mainly axillary with many, usually 6-flowered verticils 3-5 mm apart; flowers often concentrated on one side of the inflorescence. Calyx 1-1.5 mm long with scattered sessile glands and short hairs. Corolla white, blue or purple, 2-3 mm long; tube straight; lips with scattered glands.

Common

Widespread throughout the Old World tropics.