Perilla frutescens

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:LAMIACEAE
Species:Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton
Common Name:Beefsteak Plant; Wild Basil
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Annual
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:PEFR4
Plant Notes:Beefsteak Plant is an introduced annual species in the Mint Family (Lamiaceae). It is native to Asia where it is widely cultivated both as an ornamental and as a food and medicinal plant. In Alabama, it occurs throughout the state. Beefsteak Plant occurs as a weed in gardens and flower beds, in pastures, in disturbed woodlands, around old home sites, and along rivers and creeks. It is an annual with a tap root. It has square stems up to 3 feet in height. The stems are pubescent and often tinted purple. Leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate-cordate in outline, with serrate margins. The foliage may be green, purple, or reddish. The surface of the leaves are wrinkled. The stems and leaves have a faint musty odor when crushed. The main stem and branches terminate in spike-like racemes of flowers. The two-lipped corolla is pale lavender to white, tubular, and barely exerted from the calyx. The calyx is pubescent with long straight hairs. The fruit is a pair of wrinkled nutlets that develop and mature within the persistent calyx. The dark purple or red leaf forms of Beefsteak Plant have been cultivated in Alabama, and are sometimes called “Wild Coleus”. Fresh leaves of some cultivars can be used in salads, soups and as garnishes. Wild and weedy plants are not recommended for consumption as they may be high in certain toxins. It is responsible for the death of cattle that have grazed on the plant. Beefsteak Plant is sometimes available through nurseries that sell herbs or ones that sell oriental vegetables. It is also available in commercial nurseries as a colorful summer annual. Plants are easily started from seed, and plants will abundantly re-seed themselves. It prefers full sun to partial shade and a moist sandy or organic rich soil.--A. Diamond & B.R. Keener
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyLAMIACEAE - Mint family
Genus Perilla
Species Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton - Beefsteak Plant; Wild Basil

Citation

Citation Perilla frutescens (Linnaeus) Britton, Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 5(18): 277. 1894.
Basionym: Ocimum frutescens L. 1753.
Type: SRI LANKA: Without data (lectotype: Burman, Thes. Zeylan. t. 80(1). 1737). Lectotypified by Paton, in C.E. Jarvis et al., Regnum Veg. 127: 74. 1993.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Melissa maxima Melissa maxima Arduino, Animadv. Bot. Spec. Alt. 28. 1764.  
Mentha perilloides Mentha perilloides Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12. 1767, nom. illegit.Ocimum frutescens Linnaeus 1753. 
Ocimum frutescens Ocimum frutescens Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 597. 1753. SRI LANKA: Without data (lectotype: Burman, Thes. Zeylan. t. 80(1). 1737). Lectotypified by Paton, in C. E. Jarvis et al., Regnum Veg. 127: 74. 1993.
Perilla albiflora Perilla albiflora Odashima, J. Soc. Trop. Agric. 7: 84. 1935. TAIWAN
Perilla avium Perilla avium Dunn, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 8: 161. 1913. CHINA
Perilla frutescens var. japonica Perilla frutescens (Linnaeus) Britton, var. japonica (Hasskarl) H. Hara, Enum. Sperm. Jap. 1: 203. 1948.Perilla ocymoides Linnaeus, var. japonica Hasskarl 1856. 
Perilla ocymoides Perilla ocymoides Linnaeus, Gen. Pl., ed. 6. 578. 1764, nom. illegit.Ocimum frutescens Linnaeus 1753. 
Perilla ocymoides var. japonica Perilla ocymoides Linnaeus, var. japonica Hasskarl, Retzia 2: 36. 1856. JAPAN
Perilla shimadae Perilla shimadae Kudo, J. Soc. Trop. Agric. 3: 225. 1931. TAIWAN
Perilla utricifolia Perilla utricifolia Salisbury, Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton 80. 1796, nom. illegit.Ocimum frutescens Linnaeus 1753. 

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dallas, Elmore, Etowah, Geneva, Greene, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Pike, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Wilcox, Winston

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AUA, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1982 - 2020

Barcode / Accession No.
County
Coll. Date
Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
TROY000049635 Autauga 24 Aug 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1121		 TROY
Perilla frutescens (Linnaeus) Britton
UWAL0046437 Autauga 24 Aug 2018 Parker, Matthew R.
1758		 UWAL
Epifagus virginiana (Linnaeus) Bartram
TROY000048625 Autauga 24 Aug 2018 Parker, Matthew R.
1758		 TROY
Epifagus virginiana (Linnaeus) Bartram
TROY000029604 Baldwin 09 Sep 2009 Barger, T. Wayne
641		 TROY
Perilla frutescens (Linnaeus) Britton
TROY000033522 Barbour 03 Sep 2011 Morrison, Derek
57		 TROY
Perilla frutescens (Linnaeus) Britton
JSU126453 Bibb 25 Sep 1982 Whetstone, R. David
12541		 JSU
Perilla frutescens (Linnaeus) Britton
UNA00054002 Blount 06 Sep 1997 Keener, Brian R.
389		 UNA
Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt.
UNA00054502 Blount 26 Sep 1998 Keener, Brian R.
1681		 UNA
Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt.
AUA_ACC_35286 Butler 12 Sep 1979 CRAWFORD, LLOYD C.
 AUA
PERILLA FRUTESCENS (L.) BRITT.
TROY000020885 Butler 04 Sep 2008 Diamond, Alvin R.
19889		 TROY
Perilla frutescens (Linnaeus) Britton
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