interesting basil
 

My neighbor at the community garden bought a pepper plant and noticed a basil seedling in the pot. It has unusual large rounded flowerheads instead of the normal spiky ones, and a strong licorice flavor. Does anyone know the name of this basil? I googled Licorice Basil and found one photo that looks similar to this, but all the others with that name look like normal basils.

I'm not a basil expert, but it looks like the variety 'Oriental Breeze.' I did a Google images search and this one looks very similar to yours: [url]http://www.tgwshop.com/servlet/the-1168/Basil-Cinnamon-Bouquets-Cutting/Detail[/url]

Thai Basil
 

That's wonderful Thai Basil i grew some this year, pick these flowers off asap. It's 1 one of Thai Basil, there is others.

Thanks for the replies.

41N, yes, it does resemble Oriental Breeze, but OB doesn't have the purplish new leaves that this garden variety does. It also resembles Cardinal, though that one looks lighter green. Neither one mentions the licorice flavor.

Filmnet, yes, it tastes more like a Thai basil, but the inflorescences are very different.

I'm guessing there are a bunch of other ornamental basils around. Maybe the plant breeders were inspired by the wild variety in ornamental oreganos and decided to do some work on basil.

Now I wish I'd tried to root the stem my neighbor gave me and overwinter the plant!

Added: It resembles Langkuri or Siam Queen, but seems to have a fluffier inflorescence than either one of those.
[url]http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_thai_sweet_basil.html[/url]

uhm... is it magical michael basil?

[QUOTE=pinakbet;236697]uhm... is it magical michael basil?[/QUOTE]

No, because this page
[url]http://www.eGardenSeed.com/Basil_Seeds_s/83.htm[/url]
says it has a strong lemon flavor. But the Licorice Basil on this page looks like it! It says "Cultivar:Licorice
"AKA: Liquorice Basil, Anise Basil, Thai Basil or Persian Basil"
but the Licorice Basil from other sources looks different.

From this list (small photos), which claims there are over 100 varieties,
[url]http://ramonasbasilgarden.com/basil-list/[/url]
Siam Queen is the most likely, and Thai Magic is the only other one that looks similar. but it's not that (has only a hint of anise flavor).

I also looked at the descriptions at DeBaggio's (no photos), and Thai Siam Queen fits.
[url]http://www.debaggioherbs.com/search.html?page=2&q=basil[/url]

It does look like the Siam Queen that I grew this summer. Very pretty plant.
Sue B.

Yes its Siam Queen Basil, someone sent me seeds last winter, i still have the bag and some seeds.