Ocimum tenuiflorum L.

Family: Lamiaceae

Synonym: Ocimum sanctum L.                 

Bengali/Vernacular name: Kalo tulasi, Tulsi.

Tribal name: Tulosi (Chakma), Nung gri (Marma), Song-herma (Murang), Tulshi (Rakhaing), Ramal (Tanchngya), Mida phular gaas (Tripura).

English name: Holy basil, Sacred basil.

Description of the Plant: An aromatic perennial herb, up to 140 cm tall. Stem quadrangular, grooved, patently hairy, often purplish, woody below. Leaves with 1-3 cm long petiole, hirsute, lamina broadly elliptic, serrate, subacute, pubescent to puberulent on both surfaces. Inflorescence 10-25 cm long, branched, hirsute, whorls with 6-8 flowers. Nutlets subglobose, slightly compressed, nearly smooth, pale brown or reddish with small marking.

Plant parts Used: Leaf, stem.

Traditional Uses: Pea-sized pills made from leaves of the plant are taken with warm water thrice a day (one pill each time) until the asthma is cured.
Juice extracted from leaves of the plant is dropped into the ear to treat earache.
Fresh juice extracted from the leaves and stems of the plant is taken after warming thrice a day (two tea spoons amount each time) for five days to treat influenza.
The herb has the ability to lower blood sugar levels.
Pea-sized pills made from the leaves and stems of the plant are taken with warm water thrice a day (two pills each time) for seven days to treat bronchitis.
A fresh juice extracted from the leaves and stems of the plant is taken thrice a day (two tea spoons amount each time) for one week to treat chicken pox, cold, and cough.
A fresh juice extracted from the leaves and stems of the plant is taken after adding some sugar twice a day (three tea spoons amount each time) for five days to treat hysteria.
Cottonseed-sized pills made from the leaves and stems of the plant are taken twice a day (one pill each time) until the tuberculosis is cured.
The plant is also used for the treatment of dental caries, hyperacidity, insanity, itching, measles, rheumatic arthritis, ring worm, and vomiting.

Distribution: It is cultivated throughout the country.

Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….