Dilip Walse Patil

Scientific Name : Ocimum tenuiflorum L.

Category : Angiosperms

Status : Alive

Habit : An erect, much branched, pungent odoured perennial herb with stems and branches subquadrangular, often tinged with purple somewhat woody at the base, softly, densely hairy. Leaves : Petiolate, aromatic, ovate or elliptic-oblong, obtuse or subacute at apex, annulate or narrowed at base, shallowly and distant by serrate along margins, closely gland-dotted with long hairs on both sides. Petiolate, pubescent. Inflorescence : Verticil laster. Flowers : Flowers in axillary and terminal racemes of compact whorls, floral axis as long as calyx slender, simple. Sometimes branched, at times entire, inflorescence purple. Fruit : Nutlets 4, ellipsoid, smooth, brown metted with minute yellow and black spots, covered with short fringe of hygroscopic mucilaginous hairs. Flowering and Fruiting Time : September - March Significance : The plant is widely used in Ayurvedic and folk medicine, often as an herbal tea for a variety of ailments, and is considered sacred in Hinduism. The juice of leaves possesses diaphoretic, antiperiodic, stimulating and expectorant properties. It is used in catarrh and bronchitis, applied to the skin, in ringworm and other cutaneous diseases and dropped into the ear to relieve earache. An infusion of the leaves is used as a stomachic in gastric disorders of children. A decoction of the root is given as a diaphoretic in malarial fevers. The seeds are mucilaginous and demulcent, and are given in disorders of genito-urinary systems.