Ocymum minumum
N.O. Labiatæ
Basil, Bush
Part Used.
Leafy tops
Bush Basil (Ocymum
minumum) is a low, bushy plant, seldom seen above 6 inches
in height, much smaller than Sweet Basil.
The leaves are ovate, quite entire, the white flowers in whorls towards
the top of the branches, smaller than those of Sweet Basil, and seldom
succeeded by ripe seeds in England.
There are two varieties, one with black-purple leaves and the other
with variable leaves.
Both Bush and Garden Basil are natives of India, from whence it was
introduced in 1573. Bush Basil may occasionally live through the winter
in this country, though Sweet Basil never does.
Both varieties flower in July and August.
The leafy tops of Bush Basil are used in the same manner as the Sweet
Basil for seasoning and in salads.
The leaves of O. viride,
a native of Western Africa, possess febrifugal properties; and at
Sierra Leone, where it bears the name of 'Fever-plant,' a decoction of
them, drunk as tea, is used as a remedy for the fevers so prevalent
there.
The leaves of O. canum,
and O. gratissimum
in India, and of O.
crispum in Japan, all sweet-scented varieties, are
prescribed as a remedy for colds.
O. teniflorum
is regarded as an aromatic stimulant in Java; and 0. guineense is
much employed by the negroes as a medicine in cases of bilious fever.
These plants are all free of any deleterious secretions; for the most
part they are fragrant and aromatic, and hence they have not only been
used as tonics, but are also valuable as kitchen herbs.
In Persia and Malaysia Basil is planted on graves, and in Egypt women
scatter the flowers on the resting-places of those belonging to them.
These observances are entirely at variance with the idea prevailing
among the ancient Greeks that it represented hate and misfortune. They
painted poverty as a ragged woman with a Basil at her side, and thought
the plant would not grow unless railing and abuse were poured forth at
the time of sowing. The Romans, in like manner, believed that the more
it was abused, the better it would prosper.
The physicians of old were quite unable to agree as to its medicinal
value, some declaring that it was a poison, and others a precious
simple. Culpepper tells us:
'Galen and Dioscorides hold it is not fitting to be
taken inwardly and Chrysippusrails rails at it. Pliny and the Arabians
defend it. Something is the matter, this herb and rue will not grow
together, no, nor near one another, and we know rue is as great an
enemy to poison as any that grows.'
But it was said to cause sympathy between human beings and a tradition
in Moldavia still exists that a youth will love any maiden from whose
hand he accepts a sprig of this plant. In Crete it symbolizes 'love
washed with tears,' and in some parts of Italy it is a love-token.
Boccaccio's story of Isabella and the Pot of Basil, immortalized by
Keats, keeps the plant in our memory, though it is now rarely
cultivated in this country. It was formerly grown in English herb
gardens. Tusser includes it among the Strewing herbs and Drayton places
it first in his poem Polyolbion.
'With Basil then I will begin
Whose scent is wondrous pleasing.' |
In Tudor days, little pots of Basil were often given as graceful
compliments by farmers' wives to visitors. Parkinson says:
'The ordinary Basill is in a manner wholly spent to make sweete or
washing waters among other sweet herbs, yet sometimes it is put into
nosegays. The Physicall properties are to procure a cheerfull and merry
hearte whereunto the seeds is chiefly used in powder.'
Cultivation.
Basil dies down every year in this country, so that the seeds have to
be sown annually. If in a very warm sheltered spot, seeds may be sown
in the open, about the last week in April, but they are a long time
coming up, and it is preferable to sow in a hot bed, about the end of
March, and remove to a warm border in May, planting 10 inches to a foot
apart.
Basil flourishes best in a rich soil.
Part Used
Medicinally.
The whole herb, both fresh and dried, gathered in July.
Medicinal
Action and Uses. Aromatic and carminative. Though
generally employed in cooking as a flavouring, Basil has been
occasionally used for mild nervous disorders and for the alleviation of
wandering rheumatic pains; the dried leaves, in the form of snuff, are
said to be a cure for nervous headaches.
An infusion of the green herb in boiling water is good for all
obstructions of the internal organs, arrests vomiting and allays nausea.
The seeds have been reckoned efficacious against the poison of
serpents, both taken internally and laid upon the wound. They are also
said to cure warts.
In common with other labiates, Basil, both the wild and the sweet,
furnishes an aromatic, volatile, camphoraceous oil, and on this account
is much employed in France for flavouring soups, especially turtle
soup. They also use it in ragoûts and sauces. The leafy tops are a
great improvement to salads and cups.
Although it is now comparatively little used in England for culinary
purposes, this herb was one of our favourite pot-herbs in older days,
and gave the distinctive flavour that once made Fetter Lane sausages
famous.
RECIPES
A Recipe for
Aromatic Seasoning
'Take of nutmegs and mace one ounce each, of cloves and peppercorns two
ounces of each, one ounce of dried bay-leaves, three ounces of basil, the same of
marjoram, two ounces of winter savory, and three ounces of thyme, half
an ounce of cayenne-pepper, the same of grated lemon-peel, and two
cloves of garlic; all these ingredients must be well pulverized in a
mortar and sifted through a fine wire sieve, and put away in dry corked
bottles for use.' (Francatelli's Cook's Guide.)
O. Americanum.
First recorded in 1789 as found in the West Indies.
The name 'Ocymum' is said by Mathiolus to be derived from the Greek
word 'To smell,' because of the powerful aromatic and pungent scent
characterizing most of the plants of this genus. Decoctions made from 0. Americanum are
used in cases of chest trouble and dysentery; and an essential oil is
also extracted from the plant.
Closely akin to the above-named is the O. gratissimum
cultivated in China as a culinary herb.
O. canum
is used as a tincture made from the leaves in homoeopathy.
Ocymum basilium
(LINN.)
N.O. Labiatæ
Basil, Sweet
Part Used. Herb.
Description.
Common or Sweet Basil which is used in medicine and also for culinary
purposes, especially in France, is a hairy, labiate plant, growing
about 3 feet high. The stem is obtusely quadrangular, the labiate
flowers are white, in whorls in the axils of the leaves, the calyx with
the upper lobe rounded and spreading. The leaves, greyish-green beneath
and dotted with dark oil cells, are opposite, 1 inch long and 1/3 inch
broad, stalked and peculiarly smooth, soft and cool to the touch, and
if slightly bruised exale a delightful scent of cloves.
There are several varieties, differing in the size, shape, odour and
colour of the leaves. The Common Basil has very dark green leaves, the
curled-leaved has short spikes of flowers, the narrow-leaved smells
like Fennel, another has a scent of citron and another a tarragon
scent, one species has leaves of three colours, and another 'studded'
leaves.
History.
The derivation of the name Basil is uncertain. Some authorities say it
comes from the Greek basileus,
a king, because, as Parkinson says, 'the smell thereof is so excellent
that it is fit for a king's house,' or it may have been termed royal,
because it was used in some regal unguent or medicine. One rather
unlikely theory is that it is shortened from basilisk, a
fabulous creature that could kill with a look. This theory may be based
on a strange old superstition that connected the plant with scorpions.
Parkinson tells us that 'being gently handled it gave a pleasant smell
but being hardly wrung and bruised would breed scorpions. It is also
observed that scorpions doe much rest and abide under these pots and
vessells wherein Basil is planted.' It was generally believed that if a
sprig of Basil were left under a pot it would in time turn to a
scorpion. Superstition went so far as to affirm that even smelling the
plant might bring a scorpion into the brain.
Culpepper says:
'Being applied to the place bitten by venomous beasts, or stung by a
wasp or hornet, it speedily draws the poison to it. - Every like draws its like.
Mizaldus affirms, that being laid to rot in horse-dung, it will breed
venomous beasts. Hilarius, a French physician, affirms upon his own
knowledge, that an acquaintance of his, by common smelling to it, had a
scorpion breed in his brain.'
In India the Basil plant is sacred to both Krishna and Vishnu, and is
cherished in every Hindu house. Probably on account of its virtues, in
disinfecting, and vivifying malarious air, it first became inseparable
from Hindu houses in India as the protecting spirit of the family.
The strong aromatic scent of the leaves is very much like cloves.
Every good Hindu goes to his rest with a Basil leaf on his breast. This
is his passport to Paradise.
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