7(JG 



LABIATE. XL. ORIGANUM. XLI. MARJORANA. 



bipartite. Corolla rose-coloured, deciduous. Perhaps Thymus 

 Richardi, Pers. ? 



Majorca Marjoram. PI. 2 to 3 feet. 



f Doubtful species. 



8 O. PUNCTA'TUM (Poir. diet, suppl. 4. p. 186.) leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, dotted, glabrous ; heads spherical, rather downy ; 

 bracteas acute, longer than the calyxes. 1. H. Native 

 country unknown. Stems glabrous. Leaves almost sessile, 

 quite entire. Spikelets globose, size of peas. Bracteas rather 

 pubescent. Corollas whitish. Perhaps a young specimen of 0. 

 Heracleoticum. 



Var. (3: leaves narrower, lanceolate. 1. H. 

 Z)oerf-leaved Marjoram. PI. 1 foot. 



9 O. VESTITUM (Clarke, trav. 2. p. 451.) leaves subcordate, 

 ovate, petiolate, quite entire, tomentose on both surfaces, and 

 very soft ; spikes roundish-ovate, compact, tomentose, usually by 

 threes. ^ . F. Native of Palestine, near Cana. Plant branched, 

 suffruticose, hoary from tomentum. Calyx bilabiate, with a 

 woolly throat. Corollas slender, glandularly dotted. Perhaps 

 the same as Marjorana crassifolia. 



Clothed Marjoram. Shrub branched. 



10 O. SALVIFOLIUM (Roth, ex Steud. nom. p. 572.) Nothing 

 is known of this plant but the name. 



Sage-leaved Marjoram. PI. ? 



Cult. All the species are of easy culture and propagation. A 

 sandy soil and dry situation suit them best. The herbaceous 

 species are readily propagated by dividing at the root, and the 

 shrubby kinds, by cuttings or slips, or by separating the rooted 

 shoots. 



XLI. MARJORA'NA (altered from the Arabic name Mar- 

 yamych, but the marjoram of the Arabs is Sdlvia ceratopkylla.) 

 Mcench. meth. 406. Benth. lab. p. 338. Origanum species of 

 Lin. and other authors. 



LIN. SYST. Didynamia, Gymnospermia. Calyx shortly cam- 

 panulate at the base ; limb cleft, complanately dilated above, 

 quite entire, orbicular, with the margin implicate beneath at the 

 base ; throat naked inside. Corolla having the tube equalling 

 the calyx, and the limb somewhat bilabiate ; upper lip erectish, 

 emarginate : lower lip spreading, trifid, with nearly equal lobes. 

 Stamens 4, exserted, distant, somewhat didynamous : lower ones 

 the longest ; anthers 2-celled : cells parallel, diverging, or at 

 length divaricate. Style almost equally bifid at apex ; stigmas 

 minute. Perennial or suffruticose herbs, usually clothed with 

 tomentose villi. Leaves quite entire or toothed. Flowers col- 

 lected into short tetragonal spikelets. Bracteas orbicular, vil- 

 lous, not coloured, flat, equal in height to the calyxes, lying upon 

 them, and closely imbricate. 



1. M. MICROPHY'LLA (Benth. lab. p. 338.) suffruticose, pro- 

 cumbent ; branches slender, almost glabrous, panicled ; leaves 

 small, remote, petiolate, broad-ovate, obtuse, rounded at the 

 base, clothed with white tomentum ; spikelets nearly globose, 

 few, and sub-corymbose at the tops of the branches. J? . F. 

 Native of Candia, on the Sphaciotic Mountains. Origanum 

 Maru, Sibth. et Smith, fl. graec. 6. p. 59. t. 573. Sims, bot. 

 mag. t. 2602. Origanum microphyllum, Sieb. pi. exsic. crete. 

 Branches purplish, smooth, filiform. Leaves not above a third 

 the size of those of M. hortensis. Branches and calyxes clothed 

 with tomentose villi, densely ciliated at apex. Corollas of M. 

 hortensis. 



Small-leaved Pot Marjoram. Shrub procumbent. 



2 M. HORTE'NSIS (Mcench. meth. 406.) branches nearly gla- 

 brous, racemosely panicled ; leaves petiolate, oblong-ovate, ob- 



tuse, quite entire, clothed with hoary tomentum on both surfaces ; 

 spikelets oblong, sessile, glomerate on the branchlets ; ^ . in its 

 native country, in our gardens. H. Native of the North 

 of Africa, near Mascar, on hills ; and of Asia, on the Alps of 

 Kamaon, Wall. Origanum Marjorana, Lin. spec. p. 824. Woodv. 

 med. bot. 453. t. 165. Origanum Marjoranoides, Willd. spec. 

 3. p. 137. Origanum Wallichianum, Benth. in Wall, pi, rar. 

 asiat. 1. p. 31. Marjorana crassa, Mcench. meth. 406.? Ori- 

 ganum Onites, Lam. diet. 4. p. 608. ex DC. fl. fr. 3. p. 558. but 

 not of Lin. Marjorana vulgaris, Bauh. pin. 224. Amaracus 

 vulgatior, Lob. icon. 498. Origanum acinacifolium, Wallr. 

 Blackw. t 319. Mor. hist. sect. 11. t. 3. f. 2. Branches 

 tetragonal, pubescent, a little branched. Leaves half an inch 

 long. Spikelets 3-5 together, nearly sessile. Bracteas and 

 calyxes complanate, closely imbricate. Corollas small, purplish, 

 or white. A variety of this species occurs in Miller's herbarium, 

 under the name of O. Heracleoticum. This, the sweet or knot- 

 ted marjoram, is a hardy annual in our gardens, although suf- 

 fruticose in the places of its natural growth. As the seed 

 seldom ripens in this country, it is generally procured from 

 France. When in blossom the herb is cut over and dried 

 for winter use ; so that a sowing requires to be made every 

 year. Like the other culinary kinds of marjoram, it is 

 much used as a relishing herb in soups, broths, stuffings, &c. 

 The young, tender tops and leaves are used together in summer 

 in a green state, and they are dried for winter. For a seed-bed, 

 3 feet by 3 feet, a quarter of an ounce of seed will be sufficient. 

 Sow in April on a compartment of light earth, either in small 

 drills or broad cast ; or sow a portion in a hot-bed, if requisite 

 to have a small crop forwarded. When the plants are 1-2 or 3 

 inches high, thin the seed-bed, and plant those thinned out in a 

 final bed, six inches apart, giving water ; or where large supplies 

 are required, some may remain thick, where sown, to be drawn 

 off by the root as wanted. Sweet marjoram is a moderately- 

 warm aromatic, yielding its virtues both to aqueous and spiritu- 

 ous liquors by infusion, and to water in distillation. 



Garden Marjoram, or Sweet or Knotted Marjoram. Fl. June, 

 July. Clt. 1573. PI. 1 to 2 feet. 



3 M. CRASSIFOLIA (Benth. lab. p. 339.) branches rather to- 

 mentose, racemosely-panicled ; leaves sessile, ovate-elliptic, 

 thick, clothed with soft tomentum ; spikelets oblong, sessile, 

 glomerate on the branches. Pj F. Native of the Levant, Pa- 

 lestine, and Candia. Origanum Maru, Lin. spec. p. 825, but 

 not of other authors. Origanum jEgyptiacum, of authors, but 

 not of Lin. Habit of M. hortensis, from which it differs in the 

 sessile, larger, thick leaves, which are densely clothed with 

 tomentose wool on both surfaces, as well as the calyxes and 

 bracteas. Corollas purplish. 



Thick-leaved Marjoram. Fl. June, July. Clt. ? Shrub 1 

 foot. 



4 M. NERVOSA (Benth. lab. p. 339.) erect, branches panicled, 

 beset with spreading villi ; leaves sessile, broad- ovate, almost 

 quite entire, roundly-truncate at the base, or the lower ones are 

 somewhat cordate, villous on both surfaces ; spikelets oblong, 

 small, sessile, glomerate on the branches. ^. F., or O- H. 

 Native of Arabia and Egypt. Origanum Syriacum, Lin. spec. 

 p. 824. ? Origanum I'ndicum Zatarhendi, Alp. et Vesl. pi. 

 aegypt. 31. t. 33. Marum Syriacum, Lob. icon. t. 499. Habit 

 of M. hortensis, but the panicles are more divaricate and more 

 branched. Leaves form of those of M. onltes. Spikelets nu- 

 merous, smaller, and more distinct than in M. hortensis. Calyxes 

 and bracteas of M. ointes. Corollas a little larger. 



Agreed-leaved Marjoram. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1823. PI. 

 1 foot. 



5 M. ON!TES (Benth. lab. p. 339.) stems erect, nearly simple, 

 hairy : leaves sessile, ovate, serrated a little, rather villous or 



