Ocimum tenuiflorum (holy basil)
Holy basil is an important medicinal and religious plant closely related to the basil we use for cooking.
Species information
- Common name(s): holy basil
- Conservation status: Least Concern
- Habitat: Cultivated
- Known hazards: Applications to the skin can cause reactions in sensitive people.
Taxonomy
- Class: Equisetopsida
- Subclass: Magnoliidae
- Superorder: Asteranae
- Order: Lamiales
- Family: Lamiaceae
- Genus: Ocimum
About this Species
Ocimum tenuiflorum is closely related to culinary basil (Ocimum basilicum), but differs in being a short-lived perennial with smaller flowers. Commonly known as holy basil or tulsi and tulasi in South Asia, it is an important sacred plant in Hinduism and, as with many plant species used in Asia, the religious uses are often linked with the medicinal uses. Historically, holy basil was frequently grown in large vessels in the courtyards of Hindu forts and temples to cleanse the body. One of the plant’s synonyms, Ocimum sanctum, reflects this religious connection.
Geography & Distribution
Native to tropical and subtropical Asia, and cultivated and naturalised in other tropical areas.
Description
Holy basil is an aromatic, perennial herb up to 1 m tall, sometimes purplish in colour. The leaves are elliptic (narrow oval) in shape. The fruits have four small brown nutlets, which, unlike basil, do not produce a lot of mucilage when wet.
Uses
Ocimum tenuiflorum, watercolour on paper, by an unknown Indian artist, commissioned by William Roxburgh, Kolkata, India, early 19th century. (Image: RBG Kew)
Regarded as sacred in Hinduism, Ocimum tenuiflorum has many traditional medicinal uses. A mixture of leaves and seeds, with black pepper (Piper nigrum) is given to pregnant women suffering from malaria. Fresh flowers are used to treat coughs and colds. The plant has shown promise in clinical trials in alleviating hepatic dysfunction, and is an ingredient of pills and ointment to cure eczema. The essential oil from some populations of holy basil contains high levels of eugenol. In traditional Thai medicine, the leaf or whole plant is used to alleviate nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and flatulence. Alcohol extracts from the plant heal peptic ulcers.
The leaf extract is effective in checking the spread of the fungal pathogens Pyricularia oryzae and Rhizoctonia solani, which cause blast disease and sheath blight disease of rice. Antibacterial activity and deterrent against the larvae of root knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) have been reported, and the oil is a mosquito repellent.
Ocimum tenuiflorum is used as a major flavouring ingredient in Thai cuisine. Because it is regarded as sacred in Hinduism, it is used to make rosaries - the woody stems are used to make the beads.
Millennium Seed Bank: Seed storage
Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership aims to save plant life world wide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in our seed bank vault.
Number of seed collections stored in the Millennium Seed Bank: 1
Germination testing: Successful
Cultivation
A native of South Asia, it can be grown in pots in the UK, but is not frost-hardy.
Useful Links
Ocimum tenuiflorum (Image: RBG Kew)
More about holy basil on the Plant Cultures website
Holy basil's religious connections on HinduNet
References & Credits
Mabberley, D.J. (2008). Mabberley’s Plant-Book: A Portable Dictionary of Plants, their Classification and Uses, 3rd Ed. Cambridge University Press.
National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (CSIR) (2003). The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products. First Supplement Series (Raw Materials), Vol. 4: J-Q. CSIR, New Delhi.
Promjit Saralamp, Wongsatit Chuakul, Rungravi Temsiririrkkul & Clayton, T. (1996). Medicinal Plants in Thailand Vol. 1. Dept. of Pharmaceutical Botany, Mahidol University, Bangkok.
Kew Science Editor: Alan Paton
Kew contributors: Sustainable Uses Group
Copy editing: Kew Publishing
While every effort has been taken to ensure that the information contained in these pages is reliable and complete, the notes on hazards, edibility and suchlike included here are recorded information and do not constitute recommendations. No responsibility will be taken for readers’ own actions. Full website terms and conditions
- Print friendly
- Send to a friend
-
Send to a friend Close
- Spread the word
-
Spread the word Close
- Blog this
- Donate
Follow Kew
Keep up to date with events and news from Kew
Related Species
This species belongs to...
Fact Box
Arabidopsis thaliana
thale cress
Thale cress hit the headlines in 2000, when this small garden weed became the first plant to have its genome sequenced.
Related Tags
- edible
- medicinal
- clever
- extraordinary
- healing
- valuable
- collectable
- newly discovered
- unusual
- scarce
- rare
- discovered
- old
- around the world
- adventurous
- ancient
- historical
- interesting
- agriculture
- ancient
- amazing
- beautiful
- inspiring
- landscapes
- ornamental
- new
- flowering
- of use
- wild
- passionate
- tasty
- big
- weed
- common
- mysterious
- fruity
- pretty
- endangered
- irreplaceable
- massive
- ground breaking
- creative
- fun
- imaginative
- popular
- exotic
- dangerous
- poisonous
- fragrant
- vibrant
- spiky
- essential
- english garden
- garden plants
Plants & Fungi blogs from Kew
Celebrating the launch of JSTOR Global Plants
by: Kat Harrington, Library, Art and Archives blog 24 May 2013
Kew's unique Directors' Correspondence collection is being made available digitally through a new collaborative website, JSTOR Global Plants.
- 3 likes
- 0 comments
Mapping Coffee in Ethiopia part two
by: Paul Little, GIS team blog 08 May 2013
Kew photographer Paul Little has just returned from accompanying a field trip to the Highlands of Ethiopia to research the impact of climate change on the vital coffee crop. Read part two of his diary of the trip.
- 7 likes
- 0 comments
Seed collecting on Mount Kilimanjaro
by: Emma Williams, Millennium Seed Bank blog 18 Apr 2013
Kew Gardens botanist Emma Williams recounts her experiences on a recent seed collecting expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
- 22 likes
- 2 comments
Observations on a strange vegetable - the snake gourd
by: Wolfgang Stuppy, Millennium Seed Bank blog 25 Jan 2013
He may be a Seed Morphologist but Wolfgang Stuppy of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank discovers there is more to the snake gourd than just some strange fruit and eccentric seeds.
- 42 likes
- 9 comments
Directors' Correspondence Digitisation Team
by: Helen Hartley, Library, Art and Archives blog 11 Dec 2009
Meet the Library Arts and Archives Digitisation Team and find out what they do.
- 41 likes
- 2 comments
Every species counts
by: Christina Harrison, Kew magazine blog 14 Sep 2012
Two new completed publications reveal just why every species matters to the health of our planet, and why we need to change our perception of their 'usefulness'.
- 34 likes
- 1 comment
