Shiso

Shiso
Red shiso
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Perilla
Species:	P. frutescens
Variety:	P. f. var. crispa
Trinomial name
Perilla frutescens var. crispa (Thunb.) H.Deane

Shiso (/ˈʃiːsoʊ/,Japanese: 紫蘇 or シソ, Japanese pronunciation: [ɕiso̞]) is the more widely used name of the Asian culinary herb Perilla frutescens var. crispa, belonging to the mint family. In Vietnam, the plant is called tía tô(Vietnamese pronunciation: [tiɜ˧ˀ˦ to˧˧]).

This herb was previously known as the "beefsteak plant", a mostly obsolete name. It is also sometimes referred to by its genus name "Perilla", which is ambiguous, as it is also inclusive of the so-called "wild sesame" variety, P. frutescens var. frutescens, which is devoid of the distinctive shiso fragrance.

Shiso is a perennial plant that may be cultivated as an annual in temperate climates, and occurs in both red- (or purple-) leaved and green forms. There are also frilly, ruffled-leaved forms called chirimen-jiso and forms that are red only on top, called katamen-jiso.

The Japanese name shiso (^?, シソ)and the Vietnamese tía tô are cognates, both a loan word from zǐsū(simplified Chinese: 紫苏; traditional Chinese: 紫蘇; pinyin: zǐsū; Wade–Giles: tsu-su), which means Perilla frustescens in Chinese. The first character 「紫(shi, )」 means "purple", and the second「蘇(so, )」 means "to be resurrected, revived, rehabilitated". Traditionally in Japan shiso denoted the purple-red form. In recent years green is considered typical, and red considered atypical.

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