Loko-loko
Ocimum gratissimum · Clove basil
- Names in the book
- Lokoloko, Tag., Pam.; Kolonkogon, Vis.
- Used for
- Cough and asthmaMouth, teeth and throatStomach and digestionJoint pain, sprains and swelling
- Colours
- flowergreenish-white
- Native range
- Africa and South Asia
- In the Philippines, per the book
- All species are very common and universally known.
- Family
- Lamiaceae, filed in the book under Labiatæ
- Printed as
- Ocimum gratissimum, L. (O. virgatum Blanco.)
- Sources
- Page 195 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Ocimum gratissimum, also known as African basil, clove basil, East Indian basil, Russian basil, shrubby basil, tree basil, and in Hawaii as wild basil, is a species of basil. It is native to Africa (including Madagascar) and southern Asia and introduced to Mexico, Panama, the West Indies, Brazil, Bolivia and the Pacific.
Excerpt from “Ocimum gratissimum” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds no records of this plant from the Philippines.
Checked against GBIF occurrence records, October 2026.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
The book gives one account for this plant and Sulasi (Ocimum sanctum), so the text below appears on each page.
Uses
All three species possess a characteristic camphoraceous odor and are commonly grouped under the one name, albahacas (sweet basil). Some natives call them solasi and others balanay, but many are able to distinguish the various species correctly. All three have analogous properties, but the most widely used is the O. basilicum. These properties are stimulant, diaphoretic, and expectorant, and the infusion is used commonly for flatulent colic and painful dyspepsia. The dry powdered leaves of the O. sanctum are taken as snuff by the natives of India in the treatment of a curious endemic disease characterized by the presence of small maggots in the nasal secretion; this disease is called peenash, and possibly exists in the Philippines though I have never encountered it.
Martins states that in Brazil they use a decoction of the mucilaginous leaves of the O. gratissimum in the treatment of gonorrhœa and Dr. Waitz highly recommends a strong decoction of these leaves for the aphthæ of children, which he claims to have cured by this means after all European drugs had failed. This fact and the action of the snuff above mentioned, demonstrate the antiseptic properties of the plant, due doubtless to its abundant aromatic principles.
O. basilicum contains a green essential oil, very aromatic, becoming solid; it is a sort of camphor (C20H166HO, Raybaud) and crystallizes in 4-faced prisms.
All the plants are used to prepare aromatic baths for cases of atrophy and debility in children (Waitz) and for the treatment of rheumatism and paralysis.
Botanical description
O. gratissimum is a plant 2–3° high, stem straight, downy. Leaves medium lanceolate, finely serrate from the middle upwards, with short hairs and transparent dots. Flowers in long terminal racemes. Calyx, upper lip horizontal, round; lower lip 3 pointed parts, the middle one subdivided in two. Corolla yellowish, inverted, one lip cleft in 4 obtuse lobes; the other longer, narrow, serrate. Stamens didynamous, 2 shorter. Anthers semilunar. Stigma bifid. Seeds 4.
The O. Americanum has leaves lanceolate, ovate, acute, full of pores, somewhat downy. It is more fragrant than the other species and its flowers are bluish-white in racemes.
The O. sanctum is the most sacred plant of the Hindoos, dedicated to Vishnu; its branches are wavy or cauliflexuous, leaves obliquely ovate, obtuse, serrate, nearly glabrous.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Comparative phytochemistry, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory activities of traditionally used Ocimum basilicum L. Ocimum gratissimum L., and Ocimum tenuiflorum L
- Antimicrobial Effect of Ocimum gratissimum L. Essential Oil on Shewanella putrefaciens: Insights Based on the Cell Membrane and External Structure
- Comparative Anti-inflammatory Activity of Silver and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Ocimum tenuiflorum and Ocimum gratissimum Herbal Formulations