Bark
Stems are slender, erect or ascending, much-branched, four-angled and greyish-green to reddish-brown, with fine hairs.
Origanum majorana
Syn. Majorana hortensis
IUCN Red List
Not Evaluated
(NE)
Local name
- Sweet Marjoram (English)
- Murwa (Hindi)
Herb type
Evergreen
Deciduous
Family: Lamiaceae
1m
Indicated uses
Medicinal
Edible
Ornamental
Avenue
Other
Flowering & fruiting
Flowering
Fruiting
Key characters
Leaves
Leaves are soft and fuzzy, because of short fine hairs. They are opposite each other on a square stem. Leaves get up to 2.5 cm long and have a wonderful, very distinctive, perfumy fragrance when bruised.
Flower
The flowers are tiny, less than 3 mm long and arranged in burrlike heads 1.3 cm long.
Fruit / Seeds
Fruit splits into four small, dry, brown nutlets, each containing one seed.
Did you know?
The botanical name Origanum comes from the Greek words oros (mountain) and ganos (joy or brightness). In ancient Greece, wild marjoram blanketing the hillsides was literally referred to as the “joy of the mountain.”
Distribution
Türkiye, Cyprus, India, Italy, Juan Fernández Is., Krym, Libya