'Magic Mountain'
Sweet Basil
Still is the burthen sung -- "O cruelty,
To steal my Basil-pot away from me!"
-John Keats
(1795-1821)
(1795-1821)
I bought Ocimum basilicum 'Magic Mountain' from a know-nothing vendor at the Ace Hardware nursery department. Its tag did not state its species, & I never suspected the tall, svelt, self-assured saleswoman was a bullshit artist.
Seeing me looking at a pot of flowering basil, she launched unbidden into a sales pitch. She said this was not as tasty for kitchen use as was sweet basil (she didn't know it is sweet basil), but could be eaten even so. Its main feature, she touted, was how it is fully winter-hardy & would perennialize in Northwest gardens. Also, it could be treated more like a drought-hardy sage rather than like sweet basil. As she carried on & on about these startling traits, I was mesmerized into buying it, because wow, a perennial basil with big flowers, what could be more delightful!But of course it was all B-S, because it's an annual. It'll shrivel up if not watered regularly. As the year progresses & temperatures fall into the 20s, it's kaput.
When I looked up the cultivar at home to find out the species, I quickly realized I'd been duped by a dope. And it suddenly dawned on me this was the same woman who a couple years ago convinced me that succulent moss-roses were perennials. Well, I enjoyed those wonderful annuals anyway, but sometimes I think I'd better learn more about annuals, which I don't ordinarily pay any attention to, just so that such skillful liars can't fool me into buying annuals just by swearing they're perennials.
I'm not too annoyed to have been so seriously misled by an idiot salesperson making crap up as she goes along, as basil is hands-down my favorite fresh herb for the kitchen, & plant got plenty of use while with us.It has a decent mild flavor, though its growth rate is slower than less ornamental basils that can be harvested a bit every day & grow back so rapidly that the trimming is scarsely noticeable. 'Magic Mountain' puts more of its strength in the blooms. It is extremely long-flowering, the first photo up top having been taken in April, the second two photos in September.
'Magic Mountain' was developed by Hishtil Nurseries in Israel. It is fairly heat-tolerant if kept sufficiently moist. It might be less rapidly injured by short chilly periods. It has an upright rounded form tidier than most basils. It is one of the best basils for ornamental value, having large salvia-like spikes of deepest purple florets, & purple-hued dark green leaves.
O. basilicum is a mint-family herb. It's the species of basil most commonly used for cosmetics, herbal remedies, perfumes, flavor additives for sodas & liqueurs, & standard kitchen herb.
It has some fairly potent phytochemicals that give it its lucious flavor & scent, & which might have some credible medicinal applications, having at the very least an antibacterial activity. A 2004 Chinese study by Fang et al, published the Biological Pharmacological Bulletin, showed that Ocinum essential oils could be mixed with certain medications to fascilitate drug delivery through the skin. Its phytochemicals can also be used as larvicides to repell insects or kill their larvae. Several other uses of the purified oil or specific chemical extracts have solid evidence to back them up, which is not the same as herb vendors claiming dried bits of the plant will cure anything.
Basil also contains a handful of potentially dangeorus compounds, but unless the essential oils are extracted or chemical compounds concentrated, it is in all likelihood as harmless as a toxin as it is worthless as a medicine. The toxins from the whole plant can be more harmful to ruminants (such as cattle) than to people. As a kitchen herb it is one of the most mineral-rich & healthful.