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Sweet Basil

Ocimum basilicum

Commonly cultivated in gardens, rarely persistent for short times around gardens or as a waif on trash-heaps, probably not persistent in most of our area. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 6%

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 3 Florida counties.

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

8CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Ocimum

  • Argyrogramma verrucaGolden Looper
  • Autoplusia egenaBean-Leaf Skeletonizer Moth
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Spoladea recurvalisHawaiian Beet Webworm
  • Stenoptilodes taprobanesNarrow Plume Moth
  • Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
  • Udea rubigalisCelery Leaftier
  • Gonodonta incurva
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Lamiaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Florida rankSNA
Global rankNot available
FL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources