紫蘇(Perilla frutescens(L.)Britt.)為原生亞洲之唇形科(Labiatae)一年生雙子葉植物，在不同地區各有其不同之地方名，臺灣及日本栽植的品系以葉用蔬菜之crispa變種(variety)及油用種子之frutescens變種為主，而crispa變種又有紅葉種紫蘇(或稱紅紫蘇)及綠葉種紫蘇(或稱青紫蘇)二類型，可供鮮食、食品添飾物、或冷凍食材等。本文概要介紹紫蘇，又由栽植於不同季節植株生長情形，探討紅葉紫蘇之生長特性，續由量測主桿不同節位葉片紫蘇醛(perillaldehyde, PA)，比較其濃度之變化。希望本文之介紹能引起讀者對紫蘇之好奇與興趣，並期助益於改進紫蘇之栽培與利用。

Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton, a member of Lamiaceae, is a native annual dicot in Asia and known by varied common names in different places. In Taiwan and Japan, two distinct variants of this species are widely cultivated, namely, variety crispa (know as shiso) for leafy vegetable and variety frutescens (known as egoma) for oil extraction from seeds. Of the variety crispa, there are two types (aka-shiso and ao-shiso) grown for aromatic leaves, which may be used fresh or frozen and as garnish, flavoring, and natural colorant. This paper provides basic introduction to perilla and summarizes its growth behavior from growth traits investigated from plants grown in different growing seasons. Changes in the concentration of perillaldehyde measured from primary leaves of different positions of main stem are also compared. It is hoped that the given information may be helpful to the growers for a better cultivation practices and exploitations.