Sweet Basil, also known as Ocimum basilicum, is a very important plant in my household. My mom grows basil indoors so that she can make homemade pesto. In the winter, she freezes multiple containers worth of it to keep it fresh. She often tends to leave cuts of them in mason jars in the fridge to keep them fresh when she's growing a new one.
Sweet Basil is a common wild herb native to Central Asia and Southeast Africa. There are around 150 different varieties of basil, most stemming from Sweet Basil. They often differ in flavor, texture, and color, yet are all able to be used for the same purposes. Wild Sweet Basil is a perennial, but domestic basil is often grown annually. There are no efforts being taken to make sure that there is enough of this plant due to how common it is.
Interesting Facts:
The earliest known reference to basil is in the Indian Vedic texts, dating back to around 5,000 years ago.
In Ancient Greece, basil was revered to the point where they were only allowed to harvest with gold or silver
Its name comes from the Greek word for king, hence its nickname "the king of herbs"
It's used as an ingredient in the liquor Chartreuse