LABIATE, (mint family.) 



.005 broad, flowering toward apex, loose, racemed along 

 'brancliesfromloioer third up in a loose thyrsus .03 to .04 

 broad ; bracts prominently veined, ovate-orbicular, cor- 

 date or cuneate at base, mucronate, a little more than 

 half as long calyx ; calyx-tube once and a half as long 

 as lanceolate teeth ; corolla white, nearly twice as long 

 as calyx; stamens loug-exserted, nearly twice as long as 

 corolla — Summer — Sunny hill-sides on the eastern de- 

 clivity of the Judaean plateau between Hebron and 

 Zuweirat-el-Foqa. Spike of 



Origanum Dayi. 



6. O. vulgarCj L. If Marjoram. .5 to .8 or more, more or 

 less hirsute. Leaves petioled, ovate to oblong, repand, .01 to .03 

 long._ Spikes dense, .01 to .015 long, .004 to .005 broad, cylindrical 

 to prismatic, more or less panicled or corymbed ; bracts generally col- 

 ored, glandular-dotted, ovate-elliptical, acute; calyx glabrous, glandu- 

 lar-dotted — Summer — Subalpine Lebanon ; Sinai. 



Var. viride, Boiss, Bracts green, smaller, glabrous or hairj — 

 Amanus. 



Var. pri§inaticuui, Blanche. Spikes dense, prismatic; bract« 

 colored — Around Ehedin (Lebanon). 



Var. laxifloriiiu, Post. Spikes Z(?^sd, .015 to .02 long; bracts 

 green — Neba'-el-Qa'a, Ain-Zehalta (Lebanon). 



Var. loug^e§i>icatuin, Post. Spikes .02 to .03 long, dense, 

 prismatic; bracts green — Near Jeba' (Lebanon). 



* =^- * Bracts .002 to .003 long, densely imlricated. Calyx to'p- 

 split along its anterior face, 1 " 



T. O. Maru, L. 5 Za'tar. .5 to 1, shrubby at base; branches 

 erect, stiff, hairy. Leaves nearly sessile, ovate to ovate-oblong, obtuse, 

 .01 to .03 long, cauescent, thick. Spikes oblong, .006 to .01 long, at 

 length cylindrico-prismatic, in short-pe duncled cymes, paniculate; 

 bracts woolly, 4-ranked, olovate, as long as calyx ; calyx entire or ob- 

 soletely retuse — May to October — Terrace walls and rocks ; common 

 throughout. 



Var. ^inaicum, Boiss, Indument more scattered, less white — 

 Sinai. 



Var. capitatum, Post, Spikes few-flowered, globular- ovate, 

 .005 long — Coast of Syria. 



O. Maru may be the Hyssop of Scripture. The aromatic powder 

 of the spikes and leaves is a favorite condiment in the East. 



8. O. Oiiites, L. 5 Shrubby at base; branches erect, thick, 

 papillose-hirsute and minutely glandular. Leaves tomentellous, grey- 

 ish, ovate, somewhat serrate, the lowest short-petioled, the others ses- 

 sile, acute. Spikes ovate, compact, crowded into a flattish, ^ compound 

 corymh ; floral-leaves oblong-lanceolate, shorter than spreading pedun- 

 cles ; bracts in 4 rows, ovate-orUcular, acutish, nerved, hirtulous, hoed- 



81 



