''Ocimum minimum'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

. It is sometimes referred to as bush basil in reference to the way this perennial grows.

Portugal

In Portugal, the plant is known as ''manjerico'', and is an iconic figure of the country, widely sold in stores or in street fairs during the month of June due to the celebration of the Portuguese

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian mart ...

, that goes by the name of ''Santos Populares''. It is often a motif of

Marchas Populares The Marchas Populares (''Popular Marches'') are a Portuguese tradition that dates back to 1932, when the first event took place in the capital city of Lisbon, under the direction of Leitão de Barros. It is one of several events that take place in ...

. Traditionally, the ''manjerico'' was bought by men as a gift to their lovers. The plant usually comes in a small vase featuring a paper flower and a paper flag with a written poem, either dedicated to somebody or praising a specific town or holiday, or with verses featuring a humorous, provocative meaning. The plant is praised for its characteristic pleasant smell. The cultural impact of manjerico is well depicted in

Portuguese art Portuguese art includes many different styles from many different eras. Sculptures Portuguese sculptures can be best analysed by studying the many tombs of the 12th and 13th Centuries that are found throughout Portugal. In the late 1700s, the co ...

, such as in poems by

Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa (; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher, and philosopher, described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and ...

or in

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was ...

s by

Amália Rodrigues Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues GCSE, GCIH (23 July 1920 – 6 October 1999), better known as Amália Rodrigues () or popularly as Amália, was a Portuguese '' fadista'' (fado singer) and actress. Known as the 'Rainha do Fado' ("Queen ...

References

minimum In mathematical analysis, the maxima and minima (the respective plurals of maximum and minimum) of a function, known collectively as extrema (the plural of extremum), are the largest and smallest value of the function, either within a given ran ...

Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Caryophyllales-stub