Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Kemangi or basil or sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae, an annual or sometimes perennial herb, forming a shrub, thick roots, growing erect, 30-150 cm high, stems cylindrical, woody bottom side with brown bark.

O. basilicum has leaves varying in shape from ovate to elongated depending on the cultivar, 3-11 cm long, 1-6 cm wide, pointed to blunt ends, margins flat to serrated, green, a main vein in the middle and several small pinnate veins.

Inflorescences in terminal spikes, growing in a row on an erect stem, long and appearing on the middle stem above the plant. Flowers are white, white, 4 stamens and pistil located above the lower lip of the crown.

Kemangi grows in hot and dry conditions in forests, farmlands, roadsides, bushes and wastelands.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Subfamily: Nepetoideae
Tribe: Ocimeae
Subtribe: Ociminae
Genus: Ocimum
Species: Ocimum basilicum

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