LABIATE. 109 



L 



It Is tlie Marjolaine of the French. De Gubernatls states that 

 in Southern Europe it is the symbol of honour and the protector 

 pf married women. It is the Maruva and Jambhira of the Raja 

 Nirghanta and the Marwa or Marzaugush of the Persians. 

 Ibn Sina calls it Marzanjush. The Persian word signifies 

 •'mouse-ear/' a name given to it on account of the greyish downy 

 character of the leaves, which is more marked in the Persian 

 variety than in the European plant. Marjoram is cultivated as 

 a pot-plant in most Indian gardens, and is used as a substitute 

 for thyme in cookery. At Bandora, near Bombay, it is grown 

 as a garden crop to supply bouquets for the Bombay market, 

 which are much worn by women in their hair. The medicinal 

 uses of Marjoram in the East are similar to those of mint. 



Description. — An annual herb. The leaves are spatu- 

 late or oval, very obtuse, entire, gray green, soft-hairy, and 

 pellucid punctate. The flowers are aggregated in small heads 

 and have a small whitish corolla. The plant is agreeably and 

 puugently aromatic. 



Chemical comj)osit ion. —The volatile oil {Oktm majomncB) is 

 thin, yellowish, of the specific gravity 89, boils above 163° C, 

 is readily soluble in alcohol, has the aromatic odour of the herb, 

 and, according to Beilstein and E. Wiegand (1882), contains a 

 terpene boiling at 178 



HCl, _^_ 



composition C^^H-'^Q, and 



(Stille and Maisch. \ 



with 



THYMUS SERPYLLUM, Linn. 



Fig.—Hngl. Bat., xxiL, t 1514. Wild Thyme {E, 



let {Fr 



Hab. 



herb. 



Western Temperate Himalaya, Persia, Europe. The 



Vernacular. —Misho (PanJ.), Hash^ {Pers. Ind. Bazars). 



History, Uses, &C.— H^sha is the Persian name of 

 serpjUum, but it has been adopted by the Arabian and Persian 



