• Family : LAMIACEAE
  (Mint Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : TULSI FAMILY (तुलसी फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : LAMIACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Ocimum gratissimum L.
• Common name : Wild Basil, Shrubby Basil, Lemon basil, Tea bush
• Vernacular name : Elumicchan thulasi (Tamil); Nimma tulsia, Ram tulasi (Telugu); Ban tulsi (Oria); Attuthulasi, Anathulasi, Kattuthrithavu, Karpoorathulasi (Malayalam)
• Habit : Undershrub
• Habitat : Wastelands and in dry deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : Often in plains near habitations to 900m
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Common
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Tamil Nadu : Sirumalai Hills (Dindigul district)
• World Distribution : Pantropical
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; Sankar,R.V., R. Kottaimuthu & K. Ravikumar (2009). Additions to the flora of Sirumalai Hills, Eastern Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(7): 379-381.; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Ocimum gratissimum. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)