The first thing I thought of when I saw it was that it reminds me of mint, or maybe lemon balm. This article lists many of the mint family, maybe your friend’s plant is on there?
[QUOTE=elelle]
It really looks like a mint or basil to me, not any sort of salvia/sage. The budding inflorescence is more like basil/mint.
Perhaps Thai basil, or a purple flowering mint. A smell test will tell the difference. The mint will have a definite, umm, minty aroma, and the basil will also be quite aromatic, Thai basil having some camphory tones in it.
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I would say it looks a hell of a lot like Thai basil (I used to grow some), but I wouldn’t be able to tell 100% without rubbing it on my fingers and smelling it.
[QUOTE=Zabali_Clawbane]
The first thing I thought of when I saw it was that it reminds me of mint, or maybe lemon balm. This article lists many of the mint family, maybe your friend’s plant is on there?
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No, lemon balm doesn’t have leaves like that. They’re bumpy, like this.
The three-lobed leaf (note the two small lobes on each side of the petiole) excludes any mint or basil.
or search Google “Salvia verticillata”, then “images”
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys]
The three-lobed leaf (note the two small lobes on each side of the petiole) excludes any mint or basil.
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Nice catch. I didn’t even see that.
[QUOTE=AskNott]
Perhaps I’m the only one who saw that picture and thought of The Riders Of The Purple Sage.
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Every time I see the thread title the first few bars of “Greensleeves”/“What Child Is This?” goes though my head. "What herb is this dum dum dum dum… "
