Sweet basil
ಕಾಮಕಸ್ತೂರಿதிருநீற்றுப்பச்சைవిభూది తులసి
Ocimum basilicum L.
- light
- Full sun
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 30 cm
- wide
- 23 cm
Lamiaceae
Also called Basil, Thai basil
When it flowers
Flowers December to October in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Annual or subshrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Seasonally dry tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Trop. & Subtrop. Asia to N. AustraliaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun (6 h or more)Read from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS full; NC State Extension full, part
- Height
- 10 cm to 51 cmRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS 0.1–0.5 m; NC State Extension 4–36 in
- Spread
- 10 cm to 36 cmRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS 0.1–0.5 m; NC State Extension 4–14 in
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- White, pinkRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS pink, white; NC State Extension pink, purple, white
- Coldest it survives
- 2 °C (USDA zone 10b)Read from RHS and NC State Extension, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: RHS 5 °C; NC State Extension -1.1 °C
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Spanish
- Albahaca blanca, Albahaca dulce
- root
- guiéstia, xpasimakatoro, alfhabaca
- Indonesian
- Selasih
- Chinese
- 羅勒, 九層塔, 零陵香
- Hawaiian
- ki 'a'ala
- Portuguese
- Manjericão
- Czech
- bazalka pravá, bazalka vonná
- German
- Basilikum
- French
- Basilic
- Polish
- Bazylia pospolita
- Russian
- Базилик обыкновенный, Базилик душистый
- Japanese
- メボウキ, 目箒
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-28, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- 3D model: Ocimum basilicum (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.