Introduction to Basil:

I. The Plant

Basil is a medicinal and food plant, with a flavor very similar to fennel. It is a very small plant with bright green leaves and brightly colored, fragrant flowers that reach a height of about 20 to 80 centimeters.

The leaves

The leaves of basil are ovoid or ovoid-oblong, about 2.5 to 5 centimeters in length and 1 to 2.5 centimeters in width, with a slightly obtuse or sharply pointed apex, gradually narrowing at the base, and an irregularly toothed or nearly entire margin, and petioles about 1.5 centimeters in length.

Three, flowers

The flowers of basil are in racemes, terminal on the stems and branches, each uniformly puberulent, usually about 10 to 20 centimeters long, consisting of numerous decussate whorls with six flowers, the calyx is campanulate, about 4 millimeters long, the corolla lilac or white upper lip and lower lip purple-red.