Cardinal Basil

Cardinal is grown for its flower head rather than its leaf. At maturity it throws dense, tightly packed, pagoda-like clusters of bracts in magenta to burgundy on top of purple stems, and it is those bracts, not the foliage, that put it in bouquets. Johnny's files it with the Asian and Thai basils but points out that its flat 2-3 in leaves are noticeably larger than typical Thai types, and rates the flavour as cinnamon and clove with hints of anise. Botanical Interests traces the type loosely back to Africa while conceding it has been in cultivation too long for the origin to be verified, and no breeder is credited by any catalogue I checked. Published heights disagree badly between suppliers, which is the one thing worth knowing before you plan a bed around it.