SWEET BASIL 



SWEET BASIL 



Ocimum baiilicum. 

 Ocimum, Greek, strong-scented. 

 An annual of extremely fragrant foliage, long in cultivation. 



Stem. — One to two feet high, square, 

 branching, hairy. 



Leaves. — Opposite, ovate-oblong, 

 slightly serrate, petiolate; dotted with 

 many, small, translucent oil-glands. 



Flowers. — White or bluish, borne in 

 leafy terminal racemes or spikes made up 

 of six-flowered whorls. 



Calyx. — Hairy, two-lipped; upper lip 

 orbicular, concave; lower lip four-toothed. 



Corolla. — Hairy, two-lipped, one lip 

 four-toothed, teeth rounded ; other lip 

 undivided but erose. 



Stamens. — Four, declined; lower pair 

 longer; the upper often with a process at 

 their base. 



Pistil. — Four-cleft; style arising from 

 between the lobes; stigma two-lobed. 

 Fruit. — Four akenes. 



Sweet Basil. Ocimum basilicum 



Sweet Basil was formerly used as we use Mignonette, to give a 

 pleasant fragrance to a bouquet; also to flavor soups and occasion- 

 ally salads. Now, it is rarely seen, either in the flower or the 

 kitchen garden. 



PEPPERMINT 



Mentha peperUa. 



Mentha, Greek, from the name of the nymph fabled to have been 

 changed into mint by Proserpine. 



Perennial by runners and rootstocks, growing in wet places, beside 

 rimning streams. Recognized by the peppery taste of the leaves. 

 Europe, naturalized in America. 



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