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Ocimum campechianum
Also called Mosquito Basil, Wild Sweet Basil, Basil
Least basil (Ocimum campechianum) is a small, aromatic, basil-like species from the mint family, found wild across warm regions of the Americas. It grows best in warm, sunny, seasonally dry conditions and is often grown in tropical gardens for its leaves and fragrance.
Ocimum campechianum is a plant species in the family Lamiaceae, widespread across Mexico, Central America, South America, the West Indies, and Florida.
Leaves of Ocimum campechianum are eaten in Brazil's Amazon jungle. Similar to basil, it has a pungent flavor and contains essential oils which have been used ethnomedicinally. In Amazonia, the aromatic leaves are used as an admixture in ayahuasca brews. The plant is known as albahaca in Mexico and called xkakaltun in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, where it is considered a honey plant and is used as an abortifacient. It is referred to in Brazil as alfavaca and has also been referred to as albahaca del monte, Amazonian basil, wild sweet basil, wild mosquito plant, least basil, Peruvian basil, spice basil, alfavaca-do-campo, manjericao and estoraque.
Lemon basil · American basil · Ocimum basilicum var. minimum · Basil · African basil · Hoary basil · Holy basil · Basil
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ocimum campechianum 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
