EPPO Global Database

• EPPO code: OCIBA
• Preferred name: Ocimum basilicum
• Authority: Linnaeus

Origin uncertain (probably eastern Asia), not found in the wild (reputedly introduced from the Far East to Egypt, and from there to Rome, in classical times). Widely cultivated as a culinary herb in the Mediterranean region and throughout the world, rarely persisting for any significant time as an escape from cultivation. O. basilicum exists in a number of distinctive forms (some of which have been given botanical names). The Mediterranean variety is distinct from various Asiatic forms (from China, Thailand...).