Mediterranean scrublands where few other
plants grow, and they cope with their exposed
situation with a vigorous chemical defense.
Their chemical defenses are located mainly in
small glands that project from their leaves,
external and therefore expandable storage
tanks that can make up as much as 10% of the
leaf’s weight. And members of the mint
family are both promiscuous chemists and
promiscuous breeders: individual species
make a broad range of aromatic chemicals,
and they readily hybridize with each other.
The result is a great variety of plants and
aromas.
Basil Basils are a large and fascinating group
of herbs. They’re members of the tropical
genus Ocimum, which probably originated in
Africa, and was domesticated in India. There
are around 165 species in the genus Ocimum,
several of which are eaten. Basil was known
to the Greeks and Romans, took firmest root