Tropicos | Name - !Ocimum americanum L.

!Ocimum americanum L.

Flora Data (Last Modified On 4/4/2013)

Species	Ocimum americanum L.
PlaceOfPublication	Amoen. Acad. 4: 276, 1759.
Synonym	0cimum canum Sims, Bot. Mag. 51: t. 2452, 1824. 0cimum stamineum Sims, loc. cit.
Description	Herbs, annuals, to 40 cm, pubescent with uniseriate curled hairs. Leaves elliptic, acute, subentire, the bases obtuse, to ca 3 cm long and 1 cm wide, sparingly pubescent above, more so on the veins beneath, resin-dotted; petioles ca
Habit	Herbs
Description	0.5-1 cm long. Inflorescences verticils, ca 6-flowered, 1-1.5 cm distant, the false raceme to 17 cm long, the bracts elliptic, ca 3.5-4.5 mm long, the margins pubescent. Flowers with pedicels ca 2-2.5 mm long; bracteoles not apparent; calyx 4-5 long at maturity, pubescent within and without at the base, the hairs ca 2 mm long, the upper lip rounded and acutely tipped, 3-veined, the decurrent margins extending almost to the base, the lower lip 5-7-veined, the lateral teeth wider; corolla tubular, white to yellow-green, the tube ca 2-3 mm long, the lips ca 1-1.5 mm long, the lower lip ? concave; stamens exserted, the lower pair with a small appendage at the base of the filament, the anthers ca 0.6 mm long; ovary 4-lobed, the gynobase lobed, the style bifid near the tip, the branches + equal. Nutlets (3-)4, oblong, ca 1.2 mm long, black, the pericarp ? warty.
Distribution	Frequent in the American tropics.
Specimen	DARIEN: headwaters of Rio Chico, specimen cultivated by Choco Indians, Allen 4627 (MO).