OC! 
other, direéted downwards, narrower, longer, cates 
ferrated. Stam. Filaments four, declining, two of them 
rather the longeft, and two furnifhed with each a lateral 
reflexed procefs at the bafe; anthers crefcent-fhap ed. Pift. 
Germen in four deep lobes; ftyle thread-fhaped, te length 
and pofition of the — ftigma cloven. eric. none, 
except the clofed calyx. Seeds four, ova 
Eff,’ Upper lip of the calyx Pee ; lower four- 
cleft. Corolla reverfed; one lip four-cleft; the other un- 
divided. Outermoft ftamens aaa with a procefs at their 
bafe. 
This genus confifts of a number of generally herbaceous, 
and annual or biennial, eae with cppofite, fimple, ftalked 
leaves, and racemofe whorled flowers, whofe corolla is pale m 
or purplifh, fometimes fpotted. They are for the moft part 
of Ealtt Indian origin, and valued for their peculiarly fra- 
grant {mell, which in fome inftances refembles that of the 
nutmeg. ther for this reafon, or for any other, a 
of the {pecies are held in fuperftitious veneration by t 
Hindocs, are ufed in their religious ceremonies. 
Twenty-one fpecies are enumerated in the 14th edition of 
Syft. Veg., bus in thefe are included the genus PLEc- 
TRANTHUS of L’Heritier. (See that article.) Willdenow 
has twenty-feven, of which thirteen are mentioned in Hort 
Kew., as cultivated in the Englifh gardens; where they 
Saget require to be kept in the ftove or green-houfe, or 
a hot-bed and afterwards planted out in the bor- 
We fufpe& that feveral cece {pecies 
are {till latent, amongft the unexplored weeds of India 
that fome of thofe already defcribed are aot very correétly 
doubts. 
by our learned friend Dr. Buchanan for the purpofe o 
veftigation, unfortunately failed to vegetate. 
moft in eftimation are known at Calcutta by the eats 
appellation of Toolfey. The following may ferve as ex- 
amples. 
O. gratifimum. Shrubby Bafil. oo : p. Pl. 832. 
Willd. n. t. (0. 
1 495. 
zeylanicum perenne ina i Tatton : pace, Zeyl, 
174. t. 80. f. 1.) eaves ovate. Cluf- 
ters gaa —Native of Ceylon and other parts of the 
Ealt Indies. Miller omar - in 1752. This is one of 
or three feet high. 
though tapering at the bafe, and copioufly ferrated, two or 
three inches long, flightly yale efpecially on ‘de ribs 
and ali their imell, when gently touched, like cloves or 
nutm s very see oth fonal, tei ani 
in ey copious oe ee ftraight clufte 
n Sweet 
EO 
a 
a 
S 
hint. Purple-ftalked, or Sacred Bafil. Linn 
Mant. ar ae .n. 12. Ait . 4. (Kattu-tumba ; 
Rheede Vv. 10. 183. t. 92.)—Leaves rather. 
- Malab. 
eblong, ‘bloat, ferrated, wavy. Se hairy. Braéteas 
OCcK 
heart-fhaped.—Native of the Eaft sae 
been introduced into this a by th 
Said to have 
e late Duke of 
he raifed at Upfal. He uy nee a the herb has 
{earcely any {mell. . Buchanan thinks there is fome 
error in the hiftory of ie fpecies, an Bafil, which is really 
held a having a powerful odou 
um 7 eae kee to > be involved in fome 
, faid to come from 
pee eri 
than Tact ain? a Hort, Vind. v. 3. 45 
arked by Linnzus purpura/cens, but he does not appear to 
hig defer ibed it under that name. He had a Jamaica 
5 vac from ne. 
CIMUM, In Ga rdening y eoniuiehende plants of the ten- 
der herbaceous pean annual kind, of which the {pecies 
cultivated are; the common {weet bafil (O. bafilicum) ; 
the buh bafil (0. aay and the flender-fpiked bafil 
(O. tenuiflorum 
ie firft has varieties with purple fringe-leaves ; _ 
gre ae leaves ; green with ftudded leaves; and t 
ar’ lee afil. 
ut the 
points, a a on mee edge “The whole ae is aay. 
a has a throng {cent of ue which to fome is very agree- 
2 
oO 
a 
The on fubvarieties of witine h are; the common bafil, 
with v ark gree 
the ean liege bafil, with fhort fpikes o 
narrow-leaved bafil, {melling like fennel ; 
with a fcent of citron; the ba : 1 with ftudded leaves ; and 
bafil with leaves of fee colour 
In the fecond fort there are ‘alfo varieties with black pur- 
_ ea and with variable leaves. 
d of Culture.—Thefe are all capable of being in- 
ee by fowing the frefh feeds in the latter end of March, 
upon a moderate hot-bed, covered to the depth of five or 
plants fhould be placed in a good reen-houfe, or glafs cafe, 
in the latter end of the fummer, frefh air being freely ad- 
3. 
fe 
It m may be obferved that the firft fort and varieties are often 
ufed as culinary herbs, a 
ad varie cy. 
OCIVAS, in Geograph , atown of Brazil, in the ge- 
vernment of Maranh 
OCKENHEIM, or HoxkenHEM, in Biography, the 
oldeft and moit ene ble compofer in parts on the conti 
5 nent, 
