Basil: varieties and species with a photo and name, description, reproduction, medicinal properties

Basil is a perennial plant that belongs to the Buttercup family and has up to 200 species. The main distribution of culture is observed in the Northern Hemisphere. On the territory of Russia and the former CIS countries, 19 representatives of the family grow, 7 of them are found in Altai. Varieties and types of basil with a photo and a name will help you get a general idea of the culture and its biological characteristics.

General description of the basilist

Basil's main distribution in its natural environment is meadows, thinned forests, shores of water bodies, tundra. It occurs in the form of a herbaceous shrub that grows up to 2.5 m, there are also undersized and creeping varieties.

Plant characteristic:

The dwarf forms of the basil reach a height of 5-20 cm, these include the alpine species. Tall ones are formed by numerous bare stems of a rigid structure.
The main cluster of light green leaves can be seen in the lower part of the plant, they can be simple or feathery with two to four sections. Leaves are thin, alternately arranged.
Shoots end with dense or sparse inflorescences in the form of a panicle or brush.
The flowers are small; in the ornamental varieties of basil, they are larger with numerous long filaments.
The color of the inflorescences is yellow, pink, white lilac or beige with a greenish tint.
The root system is superficial, creeping type.

Basil blooms from early June to mid-July, buds bloom alternately

Basil is grown in the garden as a medicinal plant and for landscape decoration.

Winter hardiness of basil

The culture of the Northern regions tolerates the maximum temperature drop, wild-growing plant forms are not afraid of frosts up to -40⁰C. Alpine species growing in arctic conditions can withstand -45⁰C and below. The culture is distinguished by early sap flow, so the growing season begins at zero. Due to its high winter hardiness, the aboveground part of the plant is not damaged by spring frosts, the basilist calmly reacts to sudden changes in temperature.

Species and varieties of basil

Basil varieties for ornamental gardening have been specially created on the basis of wild species. The general characteristics of the plants found in the gardens of the Siberian regions, the Middle and Central strip, will allow you to choose the optimal species for breeding.

Dipteran

Dipterocarpus Basil (Thalictrum dipterocarpum) is a medium-sized shrub 70-80 cm high. Pyramidal panicle inflorescences consist of medium-sized four-petalled flowers. In the shade, the color is pink with a lilac tint, in the sun it fades to white. The leaves of the plant are bright green, three-toothed. Flowering begins in mid-July and lasts 1 month.

Basil dipteran is used for bouquet arrangements

Yellow

Yellow (Thalictrum flavum) basil is a wild species taken as the basis for decorative varieties.The plant is up to 1.8 m high. The bush is dense, the upper part is completely covered with lush corymbose paniculate inflorescences. Filaments with bright lemon anthers give the flowers a yellow with a green tint. Leaves with a silvery bloom, located on long petioles, the plate is serrated, thin.

Blossoming period of yellow basil - June-July, duration of the period 30 days

Alpine

This species of basil Thalictrum alpinum is widespread in the highlands of Siberia, and also grows in the arctic conditions of the tundra. The plant is undersized, the maximum height is 20 cm. In the landscape, it is used as a ground cover for the decoration of rock gardens. The leaves are trifoliate and are formed at the base. The flowers are drooping, located on long peduncles singly (on the upper part of the stems).

Alpine basil petals are light purple, stamens with a brown tint, flowers do not respond well to high air humidity

Light coloured

The type of plant is also known as narrow-leaved or brilliant (Thalictrum lucidum), the most popular in design due to the decorative shape of the bush. The leaves are pinnate, located throughout the stem, the leaves are thin, long, narrow, with a glossy surface. The culture reaches a height of no more than 1.5 m, the bush is compact, the stems are upright, with lush, due to long staminate filaments, inflorescences of a golden hue at the ends.

Light basil is characterized by a long flowering period from mid-June to the end of July.

Delaway Basil

The Delavey Basil (Thalictrum delavayi) is native to China. It is presented in two varieties with purple and white flowers. Inflorescences are dense, densely arranged, paniculate. Stems with a reddish tint, up to 2 m in height.

Decorative forms are widely used in the design of gardens.

Drainage

Basil (Thalictrum aquilegiifolium) has a stem completely leafy with complex, alternately arranged leaves, consisting of small rounded leaves. Plant height within 140 cm. Flowers with long staminate filaments and purple anthers are collected in corymbose panicles.

Basil is cultivated as a garden plant, used in floristry

Anemone

Low-growing culture up to 30 cm high. Stems are glabrous, grow straight, tough. On one plant there are single flowers and collected in 4-6 umbellate inflorescences. The flowers are simple, rounded, composed of 8 oblong oval petals, white or lavender.

Filaments of basil anemic (Thalictrum thalictroides) are white, and the core is green, they do not protrude beyond the perimeter of the flower

Small

Common or small basil (Thalictrum minus) grows up to 1 m, the stems are evenly leafy, the lower leaves on long petioles are three times pinnate, closer to the apex - sessile, small, with a leathery structure. Broad-pyramidal drooping inflorescences consist of greenish perianths that fall off immediately after blooming. Filaments are long, beige, with a green tint; anthers are elongated, brown.

Small basil is a poisonous plant, cyanide glycoside is present in the chemical composition

Kiuzsky

Kiuzsky (T. kiusianum) belongs to rare decorative varieties. The plant is dwarf, its height is 25 cm. The bush is compact with curved maroon stems. The leaves are tripartite, wide, leathery, located only at the base of the plant. Inflorescences are light pink, round, large, paniculate, densely located on the tops of the stems. The variety is used to decorate rockeries. The plant blooms at the end of May, the duration of the period is until mid-July.

The Kiuzsky variety is suitable for growing in flower pots as an ampelous plant.

Rochebrunsky

Thalictrum rochebrunianum is a popular cultivar in horticulture with a highly decorative habit. The height of the bush is 2 m. The leaves are carved, bright green, triple-dissected, located on long petioles at the base.The flowering is profuse, the plant looks like a bright purple ball. The largest-flowered variety. It has clearly marked sepals and long lemon stamens.

The blooming period of the Rochebrune basil begins in mid-June and lasts until the end of August.

Filamentous

Herbaceous shrub with thin stems 40 cm long. Sepals with pointed tops, small, up to 2.5 mm in length. Filaments are thin, numerous, light pink in color, with curved tips. Leaves are tough, dark green. Used as a ground cover plant. Duration of flowering - 3 weeks, the beginning of the cycle in mid-May.

In the filamentous basil (Thalictrum filamentosum), the inflorescences are large, corymbose, up to 6 cm in diameter

Basil in landscape design

Basil is more often used in mono-planting to fill empty areas. Dwarf plant forms are used to decorate a rock garden on an alpine hill. Ornamental varieties of basil with lush flowering are included in mixborders with shrubs and herbaceous plants with all kinds of leaf color. You can create a hedge to separate areas of the garden. If you cut off the stems after flowering, you get a border version of carved leaves.

A few simple solutions for using basil in the landscape:

for tamping plants;
planted in flower beds;
include in a variety of designs;
In the design of the Japanese-style garden, different varieties of basil with yellow and lilac flowers were used
create mixborders with decorative herbaceous specimens;
decorate urban areas;
decorate lawns and lawns.

Basil breeding features

In its natural environment, the basil quickly occupies empty territories, displacing nearby plants. Also in mild climates, the plant spreads by self-sowing. Reproduction in the garden can be done generatively and vegetatively.

Cutting is one of the common methods. The material is obtained from the middle part of the stems (in the spring before budding). The cuttings are treated with an antifungal agent and placed in a fertile substrate at the site. A structure of arcs is installed on top, covered with a film. The material takes root well, in the fall it can be assigned to a permanent place, it should be covered for the winter.

Basil is also propagated by dividing a bush or root shoots. This event can be held even during flowering.

Important! The bush is dug up, divided into several parts and planted.

The shoots are cut off from the main bush together with a fragment of the root and transferred to the designated place.

Planting and caring for a basil in the open field

The plant is not demanding on the composition of the soil; it can be adjusted with mineral and organic fertilizers.

Important! The culture does not tolerate very dry areas; planting in a waterlogged place, for example, in ravines, is possible.

The shade-tolerant basil loses its decorative effect during flowering in the open sun, therefore, a place for the plant is allocated under the crown of large-sized plants, so that at midday the culture is not exposed to ultraviolet radiation.

Timing

Planting work is planned in early spring, when the soil has warmed up enough to dig a hole. The culture quickly takes root and, if the material is obtained by dividing the mother plant, it blooms in the same year. It is recommended to plant seedlings at the beginning of the growing season, by the fall the root system will get stronger, and the basil will calmly overwinter.

Autumn work is carried out a week before the onset of frost; for this time, planting material in the form of cuttings, root growth or a plot from a bush is suitable.

Planting basil seeds for seedlings

In late July or early September, planting material is harvested from the plant. In the second half of November, the following works are carried out:

Seed material is treated with a manganese solution.
Low containers are filled with a mixture of peat and compost.
Shallow grooves are made and seeds are poured out.
The substrate is moistened, the container is covered with foil or glass and placed in a room with a temperature of +15 ⁰FROM.
When the growth appears, the film is removed from the container
After receiving seedlings, the light period is increased, lamps can be used. Maintain a temperature of 20-22 ⁰FROM.
When the seedlings rise by about 10-15 cm, they are dived into separate containers.

Attention! It is better to use peat glasses and plant with them on the site, basil seedlings do not respond well to transplantation.

The plant will bloom in the second year of the growing season.

You can grow seedlings not in stationary conditions. After collecting the seeds, they are immediately placed in a mini greenhouse.

For the winter, the structure with the basil is covered with straw and covered with snow

Dig a trench about 20 cm deep and the same width. A fertile mixture is placed on the bottom and the material is placed. Cover with foil, insulate. In the spring, when the daytime temperature reaches a positive mark, the shelter is removed and returned to its place at night. The basil's pick is not needed in this case.

Seedling care

Special care for the seedlings is not required: they make sure that the soil does not dry out, but they also do not allow waterlogging. Seedlings grow quickly if they are irrigated with a spray bottle. Before planting (around mid-April), fertilize with a nitrogen-based agent, this is necessary for the formation of an aboveground mass. Before being taken out to an open area, they are fed with liquid organic matter.

Transfer to the ground

They dug up the bed, remove the roots of the weed. Landing work is carried out:

The hole is made 10 cm deeper and wider than the root system.
A mixture of sod soil and compost is placed on the bottom, complex mineral fertilizers are added.
To fix the bush, a rail is driven in (if the basil is tall).
The plant is installed vertically, the roots are spread along the bottom and covered with soil.

Important! The seedling is watered, and the root circle is mulched.

How to grow basil

To make the plant easier to endure stress and build up the underground mass well, soil moisture is maintained after planting. An adult culture is more drought-resistant, since its root system is widespread, rather powerful, and fully compensates for the deficit in seasonal precipitation.

Water the basil once every 10 days (in drought conditions)

They cover an area of about 2 m in a circle near the bush.

Top dressing before the first flowering is not required. In the third year of the growing season, complex mineral fertilizers are applied in the spring, and during flowering they are watered with liquid organic matter. In this case, the dosage and frequency are not limited, the more nutrition, the longer and more abundant the flowering of the basil. In autumn, compost is laid out near the plant.

A mulched bush does not require loosening of the soil, the covering material retains moisture and prevents the formation of a crust, aeration for the root system will be satisfactory. If there is no mulch, surface loosening is carried out. Large weeds do not grow under the basil, small weeds do not harm it, therefore weeding is aesthetic in nature.

Wintering

After the temperature drops, the aboveground mass of the basil dries up and dies off. The plant is cut at the root. An adult culture is given water-charging irrigation, the site is covered with a layer of mulch. No additional event is required. Young annual plants do not need feeding. They are abundantly watered, covered with leaves, burlap on top or any covering material.

Diseases and pests

Wild species of basil and its decorative varieties do not get sick even in conditions inappropriate to biological requirements. In a drought in the open sun, the flowers fade and dry, which shortens the flowering period. Strongly moist soil slows down the growing season, but does not cause fungal infections.

Of the pests, aphids parasitize on the plant.

The main accumulation of parasites is observed in the lower part of the bush on the leaves and stems

Less commonly, scoop butterflies and bronze beetles appear on the culture.They get rid of pests by treating the bush with insecticides, but they resort to this measure very rarely, only when insects are massively spread in the area.

Healing properties of basil herb

The rich chemical composition of basil allows the plant to be used in folk and traditional medicine. The pharmaceutical industry produces alcoholic tinctures with the inclusion of an extract from the plant, folk recipes recommend decoctions and infusions. The medicinal properties of the basil are due to the presence of:

lithium - a substance that helps relieve emotional stress by stabilizing the excited state of the nervous system;
talmin, which allows you to lower your blood pressure;
berberine, which eliminates cramps by relaxing smooth muscles.

Basil-based products have the following properties:

diuretics;
bactericidal;
antineoplastic;
laxatives;
anti-inflammatory.

In folk medicine, the plant is used as a wound healing agent. The broth promotes tissue regeneration and stops the growth of bacteria.

Attention! The culture belongs to poisonous plants.

The medicinal properties of the basil are manifested when the dosage is observed; if there are contraindications, it is better to refuse to use the plant.

Cannot be used for bradycardia, hypotension, constipation. It is not recommended to give the basil medicine to children and pregnant women.

Conclusion

Varieties and types of basil with a photo and a name will help determine the choice of culture. Correct agricultural technology will be the key to good vegetation and a decorative type of plant. The culture is poisonous, but in small doses it is considered a medicine, so some gardeners grow it on their backyards.

Vasilistnik: planting and care in the open field, photos in landscape design