Ocimum tenuiflorum L.
Holy Basil / Kemangi laki/Selasih laki (Bru.)
Description
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Ecology
Propagation
Distribution
Precaution
Perennial aromatic herb that can reach up to 1 m tall. Leaves are simple, in opposite arrangement, densely marked with dots and sparsely hairy. Leaf blade is broadly elliptical to ovate-oblong, acute at apex, cuneate at base with toothed margin. Stems are spreading, woody at the base and hairy. Inflorescence a terminal cyme. Flowers are pinkish-purple or white and few-flowered. Fruit an ovoid-
Locally, the leaves are made into a decoction and can be taken orally or used as herbal bath to treat headache and migraine. The same remedy is traditionally used to treat cancer. The leaves are made into a poultice to relieve boils. Antioxidant and blood pressure lowering
It thrives in thickets, in grasslands, along forest margins and along roadsides. It prefers moist but well-drained soil under sunlight to shade.
Seeds and stem cutting.
Native to tropical and subtropical Asia, and cultivated and
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