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(Last Modified On 4/4/2013)
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(Last Modified On 4/4/2013)
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Genus
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Ocimum L.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Sp. PI. 597, 1753.
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Description
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Herbs, annual or perennial, or small shrubs, the stems glabrous or pubescent. Leaves opposite, simple, pinnately-nerved, mostly petiolate. Inflorescences verti- cils, ca 6-flowered or sometimes 10-flowered, appearing overall as a spike or a raceme, the bracts leaf-like. Flowers mostly pedicellate; bracteoles not apparent; calyx ? campanulate, frequently deflexed in fruit, bilabiate, the upper lip + entire, rounded, the margins decurrent partially or completely to the base of the calyx tube, the lower lip 4-toothed, the teeth aristate and unequal; corolla tubular, enclosed or exserted, bilabiate, the upper lip 4-lobed, the lower entire and flat or concave; stamens 4, paired, equal to the corolla tube or exserted, the filaments distinct, the upper pair naked, the lower pair glabrous or pubescent, with or
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Habit
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Herbs
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Description
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without an appendage at the base, the anthers with 2 functional thecae; ovary 4-lobed, the gynobase lobed or unlobed, the lobes sometimes as high as the nutlets at anthesis, the style slender, bifid near the tip, the branches equal or unequal. Nutlets ca 4, attached at the base, ? spherical, the pericarp smooth or warty.
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Distribution
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Commonly called Basil, the genus consists of about 50 to 60 species in the warmer regions of the world.
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Note
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An unusual representation in Panama with the presence of 0. gratissimum L. as well as the widespread weeds 0. micranthum Willd. and 0. americanum L., and the apparent absence of 0. basilicum L., the most frequently cultivated species.
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Key
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a. Lower stamen pair with naked filaments; mature calyx 7-9 mm long, the de- current margins of the upper calyx lobe extending to the bas . 1. 0. micranthum aa. Lower stamen pair with pubescent or appendaged filaments, calyx ca long at maturity, the decurrent margins of the upper calyx lobe not extending completely to the base. b. Herbs with stiff hairs ca 2 mm long, the decurrent margins of the upper lip extend- ing almost to the base ............ ..................... 2. 0. americanum bb. Subshrubs, to 2 m; leaves > 3 cm wide, ? crenate; calyx softly pubescent at the base, the decurrent margins of the upper lip ca 1/3 to 1/2 as long as the calyx ............................................ 3. 0. gratissimum
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