Basil, Thai Lemon (Organic)

Ocimum africanum.

This refreshing, citrus basil is a different species than its sweet Italian basil cousins, and is essential in certain South and Southeast Asian dishes. Thai Lemon basil is delicious with seafood, or as a more complex flavorful alternative to sweet basil in almost any dish. It is best when added towards the end of cooking. Leaves are smaller and more pinnate, but otherwise it grows similarly to other basil types. We received our seed from villagers at Ban Noong Ta Klong in the Issan region of Thailand, while on a Seed Ambassadors Project trip in 2009. It is very similar to the Penang Lemon basil variety commonly grown throughout Thailand.

Aka, Hoary basil or Lemon basil. Some sources list the lemon basil species as Ocimum x citriodorum or O. citriodorum.  But there seems to be a developing consensus that it should be considered Ocimum africanum or Ocimum x africanum.  Ocimum africanum is a long stabilized interspecific hybrid of O. basilicum and O. americanum. Recent genetic testing has shown that Thai Lemon basil, as well as Temperate Tulsi / Sacred basil, are best classified as this species.