Lemon basil, hoary basil, Thai lemon basil, or Lao basil,Dorothy Culloty (''Ocimum'' × ''africanum'') is a hybrid between basil ('' Ocimum basilicum'') and American basil ('' Ocimum americanum'').Germplasm Resources Information Network
/ref> The

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

is grown primarily in northeastern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and southern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

for its fragrant lemon scent, and is used in cooking. Lemon basil stems can grow to tall. It has white

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...

s in late summer to early fall. The

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

are similar to basil leaves, but tend to be narrower with slightly serrated edges.

Seeds A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm ...

form on the plant after flowering and dry on the plant. Lemon basil is a popular herb in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, Indonesian, Philippines, Lao, Malay, Persian and

Thai cuisine Thai cuisine ( th, อาหารไทย, , ) is the national cuisine of Thailand. Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge. Australian chef David Thompson, an expert on Thai ...

Culinary uses

In Lao cuisine, (where it is called ''pak i tou'',) lemon basil is used extensively in soups, stews, curries and stir-fried dishes as it is the most commonly used type of basil in Laos. Many Lao stews require the use of lemon basil as no other basil varieties are acceptable as substitutes. The most popular Lao stew called ''or lam'' uses lemon basil as a key ingredient. Lemon basil is the only basil used much in

Indonesian cuisine Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 popula ...

, where it is called ''kemangi''. It is often eaten raw with salad or ''

lalap ''Lalab'' ( Sundanese: , ''Lalab'') or ''lalap/lalapan'' (Indonesian) is a Sundanese raw vegetable salad served with ''sambal terasi''. It is a popular Sundanese vegetable dish originated from West Java & Banten, Indonesia. There are no set ...

'' (raw vegetables) and accompanied by '' sambal''. Lemon basil is often used to season certain

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

n dishes, such as curries, soup, stew and steamed or grilled dishes. In

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, Lemon basil, called ''maenglak'' ( th, แมงลัก), is one of several types of basil used in

. The leaves are used in certain

Thai curries Thai curry ( th, แกง, translit=kaeng, ) is a dish in Thai cuisine made from curry paste, coconut milk or water, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, and herbs. Curries in Thailand mainly differ from the curries in India in their use of ingr ...

and it is also indispensable for the noodle dish '' khanom chin nam ya''. In the Philippines, where it is called ''sangig'', particularly in Cebu and parts of Mindanao, Lemon basil is used to add flavor to ''law-uy'', which is an assortment of local greens in a vegetable-based soup. The seeds resemble

chia seeds Chia seeds are the edible seeds of ''Salvia hispanica'', a flowering plant in the mint family ( Lamiaceae) native to central and southern Mexico, or of the related '' Salvia columbariae'' of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Chia seeds ...

after they have been soaked in water and are used in sweet desserts. It is also used in North East part of India state Manipur. In Manipur, it is used in curry like pumpkin, used in '' singju'' (a form of salad), and in red or green chilli pickles. The Garo, Khasi and Jaintia tribe of Meghalaya also use it in their cuisine. The Garos call it ''panet'' (pronounced phanet). They use it to prepare cold sauce (Ind. Chutney) with added ingredients like fermented fish, chilly, onions sometimes roasted tomatoes. In Tripura, it is known as ''banta'', and is used by Tripuri community to make ''banta mosdeng'', a fermented fish-based spicy chutney.

Cultivation

Lemon basil requires the same care as other basil varieties. It is a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

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 excl ...

, 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 A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

, chemical or organic. It can really grow in a matter of weeks. It should be watered whenever the topmost part of the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...

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

, 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 Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a g ...

, and sowing them indoors in the spring will provide next year's harvest. Harvesting once a week for each plant will make it bushy due to the side

shoots In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages, leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems, and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the spr ...

that will develop. The plant should never be completely defoliated.

Propagation Propagation can refer to: *Chain propagation in a chemical reaction mechanism *Crack propagation, the growth of a crack during the fracture of materials * Propaganda, non-objective information used to further an agenda * Reproduction, and other for ...

is achieved by sowing seeds and from stem cuttings. Seedlings will reach in 3–4 weeks and should be harvested at this time to let them branch out. Stem cuttings will gain

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

s after they have a week of being soaked in water. The setup is simply a Mason jar filled with water and a square of mesh with holes large enough to hold the plant in place while the roots grow. As many cuttings as the gardener wishes can be planted, preferably the most vigorous stems that can be found because they will root faster. The water should be changed every few days. After 2–3 weeks, the roots will be long enough for the cuttings to be transplanted into pots or planted in their permanent position to keep in the

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

References

External links

Basil
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15347492, from2=Q13407978 Ocimum Herbs Lao cuisine Thai cuisine Food plant hybrids