OCIMUM BABILICUM — OCIMUM SANCTUM. 



OCIMUM BAS1L1CUM, Linn." 



Common or Sweet Basil; kali tulsi, babui tulsi (Hind.). 



Natural order Labiatce. An erect usually hairy strongly scented herbaceous plant frequently 

 met with in the hotter parts of India. There are several varieties, one of which imported from 

 Persia is tinged with purple, another has deeply cut leaves, whilst a third kind is distinguished by 

 its much larger fruiting calyces. 



This plant is much cultivated and is used by natives as a flavouring ingredient. 

 The small black seeds when steeped in water swell up and form a kind of jelly which is 

 useful as a diuretic and demulcent. 



OCIMUM SANCTUM, LinnJ 



Sacred Basil; tulsi (Hind.) ; talasi talasika (Sans.). 



Natural order Labiatce. An erect herb clothed with soft hairs. Flowers in slender racemes. 

 Lower teeth of calyx with long awns. Corolla hardly exceeding the calyx. 



This plants cultivated throughout India and is met with up to 6,000 feet on the 

 Himalaya. Though often occurring in a semi-wild state it is probably not indigenous 

 in this country. 



The following allusion to its sacredness is taken from Dr. Watt's Dictionary : — 



" The tulsi is the most sacred plant in the Hindu religion ; it is consequently found in or near 

 " almost every Hindu house throughout India. Hindu poets say that it protects from misfortune 

 " and sanctifies and guides to heaven all who cultivate it. The Brahmins hold it sacred to the gods 

 " Krishna and Vishnu. The story goes that this plant is the transformed nymph Tulasi, beloved 

 " of Krishna, and for this reason near every Hindu house it is cultivated in pots, or on brick or 

 " earthen pillars with hollows at the top in which earth is deposited ; it is daily watered and 

 " worshipped by all the members of the family. Under favourable circumstances, it grows to a con- 

 " siderable size, and furnishes a woody stem large enough to make beads from for the rosaries used 

 " by Hindus on which they count the number of recitations of their deity's name." 

 The roots, leaves, and seeds are used medicinally. 



* References :— FI. Br. Ind , IV., 6C8 ; Watt, Diet, Econom. Prod., V., 440 ; Atkinson, Him. Dist., I., 708 ; Phar- 

 macogr. Ind., III., 83 ; Balf. CycL III., 6. Ocymum liasilicum, Willd. ; Roxb., Fl. Ind. (Clarke's Ed.), 464. O. pilosum, 

 Willd ; Koxb., I. c. 404. O. caryophyllatum, Roxb., 1. c., 4G3. 



t Fl. Br. Ind., IV., G09 ; Koxb , Fl. Ind. (Clarke's Ed.), 4C3 ; Yule and Burnell, Gloss, 709 ; Pharmacogr. Ind., III., 8G ; 

 Watt, Diet. Econom, Prod , V., 444. 



