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Ocimum africanum
Also called Hoary Basil
Lemon basil (Ocimum × africanum, also called hoary or Thai lemon basil) is a hybrid of sweet basil and American basil, grown for its lemon-scented leaves in cooking. It is easy to grow in warm, sunny conditions if you keep it watered, fed, and pinched back before it flowers.
Lemon basil, hoary basil, Thai lemon basil, or Lao basil, (Ocimum × africanum) is a hybrid between basil (Ocimum basilicum) and American basil (Ocimum americanum). The herb is grown primarily in northeastern Africa and southern Asia for its fragrant lemon scent, and is used in cooking.
Lemon basil stems can grow to 20–40 cm (8–20 in) tall. It has white flowers in late summer to early fall. The leaves are similar to basil leaves, but tend to be narrower with slightly serrated edges. Seeds form on the plant after flowering and dry on the plant.
Lemon basil requires the same care as other basil varieties. It is a tropical plant, that should be in a spot receiving at least six hours of direct sunlight a day. It is actually quite hardy and can sometimes grow continuously given only water, but the flavor will be at risk if not given any fertilizer, chemical or organic. It can really grow in a matter of weeks. It should be watered whenever the topmost part of the soil is dry. At this time, the plant will wilt, but will be back to normal once watered.
Basil should never reach flowering during the harvesting periods. If given a chance to flower, its flavor will be sacrificed and the leaves become smaller, dry and leathery. Once the flower clusters form, they should be removed so the plant will continue its vegetative growth. It is, however, a good idea for it to be left to flower and set seeds that will be collected during fall, because the cold winter frosts will kill the basil plant anyway. Harvesting the seeds two weeks before the last frost, and sowing them indoors in the spring will provide next year's harvest.
American basil · Ocimum basilicum var. minimum · Basil · Least basil · African basil · Hoary basil · Holy basil · Basil
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lemon basil by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
