Leaves look old. If this is at the base of the plant up to about half way, it can be due to age. Overwatering basil will usually make leaves a bit yellow color, but it also can be due to poor soil conditions. The color is a sure sign of dying leaves.

The exact same thing has happened to my basil plant. I have had it for about a year. I re-potted it in the summer maybe August to a slightly bigger pot and new potting soil. It is now New Years Day and the plant is completely diminished,in 1 month all the leaves have fallen off and turned a goldish/black. I did try to trim the plant like 2 months ago and it was doing fine then started to flower so I pinched the flowers off and harvested some leaves leaving more than half of the leaves. No idea what has happened to the plant, some of the stalks are wood color and some are still green. helpp!

Brown leaf edges often indicate leaf scorch, something that can happen when a plants roots cannot supply sufficient moisture for the leaves to transpire. http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/environmental/scorch.aspx kimmq is kimmsr

looks like old tired leaves shutting down and getting ready to fall off ... note the compound leaves.. and how whole leaves are in the process ... n other words.. its not lets say 5 leaves affected.. its one large 5 petaled leaf ... see link below ... in my MI.. roses are deciduous.. lose all their leaves... so this simply looks normal to me ... but i dont know CA hort myself ... so i look forward to reading along and finding out if things are radically different for you ... ken https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=compound+rose+leaves&iax=images&ia=images ps: i much prefer pix posted in the posts.. than links outside the site ... try posting your pic directly in a reply.. using the camera/photo button below the box you type in ...