Lettuce Leaf Basil

I don't think this tastes anything like basil. It tastes more like black licorice. Maybe that flavor goes away as the leaves get larger, but I was also unhappy with the texture compared to basil. It was much thicker and rougher. I pulled my plants up. Also, compared to regular basil I had a tougher time keeping the plants alive just after sprouting. I'll just stick to regular basil for pesto

The flavor is different than Genovese, but the leaf size makes up for it. Growing it indoors I still had huge 4 inch leaves

Grew very easily in my Aerogarden but the anise flavor is way too strong for me. Recommend if you like anise flavor.

Last year, 2016, I grew 5 different types of basil. Most were too licorice strong tasting. I love black licorice, but don't like it overpowering in my basil. My other smaller leaf types seemed to attract more bugs( than this lettuce type) and they dried out more easily, with brown leaf spots in the horrid heat of last summer. The purple and purple/green types were too specifically flavored and odd tasting for many recipes. The smaller leafed green ones tended to have thicker leaves (not delicate enough) and a strong licorice/anise flavor. This LETTUCE BASIL was perfect! It had delicate textured leaves that still held up to rolling/chiffonade, had large enough leaves to NOT have to pick tons of them to make pesto, and the flavor was mild, but still a pleasant, true, rich basil flavor. It lasted outdoors long into the fall in zone 6. It froze beautifully just tossed in baggies. Didn't get as spindly tall as the others-Fuller. Just watered regularly and had happy, healthy, pretty plants.

This is officially my new favorite basil! It truly has leaves equatable to the size of young lettuce. The flavor is definately there!! So good to wrap a piece of watermelon in a huge basil leaf! If it doesnt have enough room the taste of the leaf gets really strong. I had 3 overcrowded pots and they all grew but not as large as the ones in the ground and with a super concentrated flavor. Still like it though, give it enough room!! Love this basil!! Oh yah the potted ones flowered already while the grounders have not.