184 



OGI 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



oc-i 



this country in the open air. But seeds may be saved here, 

 by placing the plants in an airy glass-case or stove, in the 

 autumn ; supplying them with water, and letting them have 

 free air in mild weather. The species are, 



1. Ocimum Thyrsiflorum ; Thyrse-flowered Basil. Flow- 

 ers, panicle, fascicled ; plant very much branched ; stem erect, 

 woody* a foot and half high, the whole subdivided into 

 branches, channelled on both sides; corollas purple, pale 

 on the outside, with the lower lip white. Native of the 

 East Indies. -. : .Ixuninit ,9^-u;' -nsv avft iftrw skn; 



2. Ocimum Monaehorum ; Monk's Basil, Stamina tooth- 

 less, the alternate ones bearded at the base; stem erect, a 

 foot high, roundish, somewhat hairy, with the branches 

 commonly superaxillary ; bractes heart-shaped, caducous ; 

 corollas smaller, white, with the lower tip purple. This is 

 aft annual plant, but its native place is unknown. ,-. ba/boot 



3. OqitBum Gratissimum; Shrubby Basil. Stem suffru- 

 ticose ; leaves lanceolate, ovate ; racemes round ; flowers 

 small; corollas white, with yellow antherse. Native of the 

 East Indies. 



4. Ocimum Album; While Basil. Leaves ovate, blunt; 

 whorls of the racemes approximating, the mature ones four- 

 cornered; corollas crenate; stem a foot high, greenish white, 

 woody at the base. Annual; native of the East Indies, and 

 the island of Java. t/vani rrasrtiel snisnarl 



5. Ocimum Verticillatum; WJtorled Basil. Leaves ovate, 

 blunt; raceme elongated, naked; flowers whorled, in fours, 

 peduncled; stem a foot high, the whole even, shorter than 

 the raceme, ascending. Native of the Cape. ;,jn 



6. Ocimum Basilicum; Common Sweet Basil. Leaves 

 ovate, smooth; calices ciliate; stem suffruticose, three feet 

 high, erect,' round, tomentose, with straight ascending 

 branches; flowers white. The leaves are peculiarly smooth, 

 soft, and cool to the touch, and if not too much bruised, 

 exhale a very delightful smell. They vary in colour, and 

 are often spotted with purple. Native of India and Persia. 

 The Common Basil, which is used in medicine, and also for 

 culinary purposes, especially in France, is a hairy plant, and 

 has also a strong scent of cloves, too powerful for most per- 

 sons* but very agreeable to some. The varieties of this spe- 

 cies are, 1. Common Basil, with very dark green leaves, and 

 violet-coloured flowers. 2. Curled-leaved Basil, with short 

 spikes of flowers. 3. Narrow-leaved Basil, smelling like 

 Fennel. 4. Middle Basil, with a scent of Citron. 5. Basil 

 with studded leaves. 6. Basil with leaves of three colours. 

 There are many other varieties, differing 1 in the size, shape, 

 odour, and eokmr of the leaves, in Europe, but particularly 

 in the East, where it is not only used in cookery, but the 

 herb is reckoned good in the head-ache, and wandering 

 rheumatic pains ; and the seeds are reckoned very efficacious 

 against the poison of serpents, both taken inwardly and laid 

 upon the wound. It is comjnon enough in our gardens. 

 An infusion of the green herb In boiling water, is good in all 

 kinds of obstructions, particularly of the menses, which it 

 gently, though effectually removes, and of consequence all 

 the numerous train of disorders which originate from a sup- 

 pression of that evacuation. The dried leaves are much 

 used as an ingredient in cephalic and herb snuffs, and other 

 sternutatory powders^ It may be treated as a hardy annual, 

 but is best raised on a hot-bed, 



^7. Ocimum Minimum; Bush Basil, Leaves ovate, quite 

 entire. This, as its name intimates, is a low bushy plant, 

 seldom above ,six inches high. The flowers are in whorls 

 towards the top of the branches, smaller than 'those of the 

 preceding, ; and seldom succeeded by ripe seeds in England. 

 The varieties-are*.- 1. Smallest Basil, with black ptrrple leaves. 



2. With variable leaves. They are both annuals, flowering 

 in July and August. -Native of the East Indies. 



8. Ocimum Scabrum; Hugged Basil. Racemes simple, 

 eject; leaves ovate, dotted underneath ; stem upright, pani- 

 cled, a foot high and more, the whole plant hairy and rugged. 

 -^Native of Japan. 



9. Ocimum Capitellatum, Leaves ovate; flowers aggre- 

 gate; petioles lateral ; stem oleraceous, bluntly quadrangu- 

 lar, two-grooved, sparingly branched, a foot high; corolla 

 white. -Native of China. ,-, gj^-n., 



10. Ocimum Sanctum; Purple-stalked Basil, or Sacred 

 Herb. Leaves somewhat oblong-, blunt, serrate, waved; 

 stem rough-haired; bractes cordate; corolla bright purple, 

 scarcely larger than the calix. It is almost scentless ; flowei's 

 in September; and is a native of the East Indies. 



11. Ocimum Americanum; American Basil. Leaves sub- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, subscrrate ; racemes round ; stem 

 subherbaceous. From a branched root springs an upright 

 stalk, bluntly four-cornered, smooth, somewhat woody at 

 bottom, perennial, and brownish, pale, above, with a ting* of 

 green; corolla flesh-coloured. The whole plant has a very 

 grateful smell. Native of Martinico. 



12. Ocimum Campeaehianum; CampeacJty Basil. Leaves 

 lanceolate, hoary underneath ; petioles very long, villcse ; 

 flowers peduncled; stalk upright, nearly two feet high, send- 

 ing out two or four branches towards the top; colour of the 

 flowers white. The whole plant has a strong aromatic odour, 

 and grows naturally in Campeachy. 



13. Ocimum Tenuiflorumi Slender-spiked Basil. Leaves 

 ovate-oblong, serrate ; bractes cordate, reflex, concave ; 

 spikes filiform; stem from one to two feet high, roundish, 

 purple, brachiate, having spreading hairs scattered over it. 

 The flowers are so small as to be scarcely visible to the 

 naked eye; they begin to open from the top of the spike. 

 Native of the province of Malabar, and other parts of the 

 East Indies. 



14. Ocimum Polystachyon ; Many-spiked Basil. Corollas 

 four-cleft; racemes leafless, nodding at top; stem erect, two 

 feet high, brachiate, four-coraered, .the corners sharp and 

 rugged. This plant is assigned a place among- the Otimn. 

 although it has no teeth to the filamenta; because it cannot 

 be a Nepeta, on account of the lower lip not being crenate; 

 nor a Mentha, because the stamina are declined. It is per- 

 ennial, flowering early in July and August. Native of the 

 East Indies. 



15. Ocimum Serpyllifolium; Wild Thyme-leaved Basil. 

 Leaves linear-lanceolate, quite entire; genitals very long. 

 This is a very branching shrub; the branches divaricating, 

 villose, and hoary. Native of Egypt. 



16. Ocimum Grandiflorum ; Great-flowered Basil. Stem 

 shrubby; leaves ovate, serrate; genitals very long. This is 

 a fragrant undershrub, three feet in height. It was found 

 by Forskahl in Egypt, and was brought from Abyssinia by 

 the celebrated traveller, Bruce. 



17. Ocimum Menthoides; Mint-leaved Basil. Leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, serrate ; stem a foot high, upright, bra- 

 chiate, four-cornered; flowers each on their proper pedicels. 

 It flowers in July. Native of the island of Ceylon. 



18. Ocim\m Molle; Heart-leaved Basil. Leaves ovate, 

 cordate, acute, serrate, wrinkled; sinuses closed; bractes 

 roundish, wedge-form. This is an annual, pubescent, sweet- 

 smelling plant; stem thick, bluntly quadrangular. It flowers 

 in September and October. Native of the East Indies. 



19. Ocimum Scutellarioides. Corollas sickle-shaped; 

 pedicels branched ; stem pubescent. It differs so much from 

 its congeners in the flowers a? to VIP almost of a distinct 



