Finissimo Verde A Palla

Finissimo Verde a Palla is an Italian heritage bush basil distributed by Franchi Sementi, one of Italy's oldest seed houses, and the name is a plain description of the plant: very fine green, in a ball. It belongs to the small-leaf Greek or bush basil group rather than the large-leaf Genovese group, and its distinguishing behaviour is that it forms a near-perfect globe without being clipped, so it looks pruned when it has never been touched. Franchi classes it as a mid-early heritage variety and sells it in the bulk Italian packet format, and it is widely grown as an edible ornamental for pots, window boxes and border edging as much as for the kitchen. Cooks value it for a flavour that is disproportionately strong for the size of the leaf. It is the variety to grow where a Genovese would look untidy, in a formal pot or a low edging line.