Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Southeast Asia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

A fragrant annual herb in the mint family, grown for its deeply wrinkled green or purple leaves with a distinctive anise-basil flavour prized in East Asian cuisine. The purple variety's vivid colour comes from anthocyanins — the same pigment that gives umeboshi their striking deep-pink hue.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Perilla
Species: Perilla frutescens