ORIGANUM MA JORANA. 
173 
the class may at once be known from having labiate or gaping 
blossoms. 
Sensible and Medical Properties. Wild marjoram hag 
an agreeable aromatic smell, approaching to that of the sweet or 
garden marjoram, and a warm pungent (aste, muchresemblifig thyme, 
to which it is likewise thought to be more nearly allied in its medi- 
cinal qualities, than to any other of the Verticillafje, and therefore 
deemed to be emmenagogue, tonic, stomachic, &c. ; these effects 
however are commonly ascribed to all the herbs of this natural tribe, 
which possess uncommon aromatic and stimulant powers. Distilled 
with water it yields a moderate quantity of a very acrid, penetrating 
Oil, which has been much used for casing the pain of carious teeth. 
An infusion of the dried leaves forms a very grateful drink; the 
fresh leaves are also used externally for fomentations, &c. We are 
told by Withering, that the tops of this plant dye purple, and are 
much used by the country people for that purpose. 
Off. The Leaves. 
Off. Pp. Oleum Origani, L. D. 
^ 
ORIGANUM MAJORANA. 
Sweet Marjoram. 
Class, Order, and Gen. Char, as the last. 
Spec. Char. Leaves ovate, obtuse. Spikes roundish, com- 
pact, pabescent. 
This species of Origanum is an annual plant, a native of Syria 
and Portugal, but cultivated in our gardens, chiefly for culinary pur- 
poses. Being scarcely ever used medicinally, (although the Edin- 
burgh and Dublin colleges have retained it in their pharmacopcEias) 
we have not thought it necessary to give a drawing of it. 
The stalks are numerous, square, woody, branched, and rise to 
about twelve or eighteen inches in height ; the leaves are ovate, 
obtuse, entire, and downy, of a pale green, and stand in pairs upon 
fchort peduncles ; the flowers are small, white, and appear succes- 
sively between the bracteas, which are numerous, and form round 
