Basil
Ocimum basilicum · Mint family
Plant portrait
An aromatic plant with opposite leaves and small flowers in spikes. Basil varieties can be green or purple, with large or small leaves.
Harvested part
The leaves and young shoot tips; the flowers are edible too.
What to watch for
Watch new pairs of leaves and side shoots. Picking a few shoot tips encourages bushier growth; removing flowers prolongs leaf production.
Growth stages of the basil
Plotilo illustrates the basil in 5 stages in 3D: seed, small sprout, young plant, growing and harvest. The models show typical shapes; they do not predict how long growth takes.
- Seed
Starting from a seed. It is shown on the surface to make it visible in this illustration.
- Small sprout
A short first stem and its first small leaves emerge.
- Young plant
The young plant carries more leaves and starts to take its own shape.
- Growing
Leaves and stems develop. Their shape depends on the species.
- Harvest
An illustration of the harvested part. Roots are made visible for clarity; this image does not confirm actual maturity.
Same botanical family
No other plant from the mint family is in the Plotilo catalogue yet.