Kinds of Basil Plants

Sweet Basil

• Sweet basil is the universal name given the most common variation of the herb, which is characterized by its curved, green leaves. Sweet basil is often used as the key ingredient for pesto and a variety of Italian dishes and can be grown indoors and outdoors. When your sweet basil plant reaches full growth, pick the sprout tips off the top to prevent it from turning to seed. Doing so will help the plant continue to grow leaves.

Thai Basil

• Known for its prevalence in Thai cooking and with a smell and taste resembling licorice, Thai basil's leaves grow much smaller than the leaves of a sweet basil plant. It can grow up to 2 feet in height, but often grows low to the ground and spreads quickly. Leaves are triangular-shaped and roughly the size of a medium-sized fingernail.

Lemon Basil

• The leaves of a lemon basil plant are thinner and pointier than those of a sweet basil plant and are immediately distinguishable for their lemony scent and taste. Lemon basil isn't an herb you'd use for pesto, but its flavor makes it a valuable addition to salad, homemade tea and even as a dessert garnish. A close cousin to lemon basil is lime basil, which also has a citrus taste.

Purple Basil

• Purple basil shares a similar size and taste with common sweet basil, but has rich, purple-colored leaves and pink flowers. Its color makes it an eye-catching garnish or addition to salads, and the flower can also be used as an edible garnish.

Cinnamon Basil

• Like lemon basil, cinnamon basil tastes partly of basil and partly of another kitchen ingredient. The cinnamon flavor of cinnamon basil makes it a versatile herb, whether you're using it for a dinner or a dessert. Its surprising flavor makes it well-suited for use as a dessert garnish guaranteed to create discussion at your dinner party.

Genovese Basil

• Though it tastes and looks similar to sweet basil, Genovese basil is the best basil for Italian-style cooking. It has a strong fragrance that you can smell even prior to picking its leaves, which are wrinkled and dome-shaped, turning in on themselves. Genovese basil's strong flavor makes it ideal for pasta sauces, pesto and salads.

Others

• Other basil varieties include orange basil, African basil, lettuce leaf basil, Siam basil and holy basil. Each has the familiar basil scent and taste but with a twist. Orange basil has a slight flavor of orange, African basil grows blue leaves and is best-suited as an ornamental herb, and lettuce leaf basil is known for its large leaves. Siam basil has a taste similar to Thai basil and holy basil can reach 3 feet in height and is best used as a garnish.