O' R I G A N U M. 
<c Several perfons have fallen into the error of believing 
that the oriflamme was never taken from the church of 
St. Denis but when our kings had unfuccefsful wars, to 
repulfe the enemy who was attacking their kingdom, or 
prevent themfelves froin being conquered. The truth is, 
that, when war was made on the infidels, as Froifiart 
writes, this ftandard was the principal one in our armies, 
whether the war was undertaken for the defence of the 
frontiers, or in the interior of the kingdom again It the 
enemies of the (late. 
“ During the reign of Philippe le Bel, at the battle of 
Mons en Puele, in the year 1304, this fame oriflamme was 
borne by Anfeau de Chevreufe, a valiant knight, who 
there loft his life by fuffocation from heat and t hi rib. 
Meier writes, that the French loft this banner in the battle, 
and that it was taken and torn to pieces by the Flemings. 
The Chronicle of Flanders, it is true, fays, that the night 
after the combat it was on the ground in the field of bat¬ 
tle ; but Guillaume Guiart, who was prefent, as he him- 
felf tells us, relates, that the oriflamme loft in this battle 
was not the true one, but a counterfeit, made by order 
of the king, to excite, on that occafion, the ardour of his 
foidiers. We need not therefore be furprifed, if the 
Flemings vrere then perfuaded they had gained pofi'effion 
of the oriflamme, as they had no rule to diftinguifh the 
falfe from the true one. This account is the more pro¬ 
bable, becaufe we read of its being immediately afterward 
difplayed in our armies; for, in the year 1315, the king, 
Louis Hutin, had it borne in his war againlt the fame 
Flemings, and gave the guard ofdt to Herpin d’Erquery. 
“ From the reign of Charles VI. hiftory makes no more 
mention of the oriflamme. It is therefore probable, our 
inonarchs ceafed to have it borne in their armies from 
the time the Englifli made themfelves mafters of Paris, 
and of the greater part of France, under the reign of 
Charles VII. who, having driven them out of his king¬ 
dom, introduced a new mode of making war. He like- 
wife introduced the white enfign, which has fince been 
the principal banner in our armies.” 
OR'IGAN, f. [Fr. from origanum, Lat.] Wild marjo¬ 
ram. See Origanum. 
I chanc’d to fee her in her proper hue, 
Bathing herfelf in origan and thyme. Spevfer. 
ORIG'ANUM , f [Gr. formed ofogoj, a mountain, and 
yoLioq, joy 5 in allufion to its place of growth and agree¬ 
able fragrance.] Marjoram ; in botany, a genus of the 
clafs didynamia, order gymnofpermia, natural order of 
verticillatae, (labiatae, Jiiff.) Generic characters—Calyx: 
involucre (piked : compofed of imbricate, ovate, coloured 
brafies. Perianthium unequal, various. Corolla: one- 
petalled, ringent: tube cylindrical, comprefied : upper 
lip erect, flat, blunt, emarginate ; lower trifid, the feg- , 
ments almoft equal. Stamina: filaments four, filiform, 
the length of the corolla, cf which two are longer. 
Antheras fimple. Piftillum : germ four-cleft. Style fili¬ 
form, inclined to the upper lip of the corolla. Stigma 
very flightly bifid, Pericarpium : none 5 calyx conver¬ 
ging, fortering the feeds at bottom. Seeds four, ovate. 
The involucre of the calyx conftitutes the efience of the 
genus. The perianthium in fome almoft equal, five¬ 
toothed ; in others bilabiate, the upper lip large, entire, 
the lower fcarcely any ; in others two-leaved.— EJfential 
Charafter. Strobile four-cornered, fpiked, colleiSling the 
calyxes. There are twelve fpecies. 
1. Origanum .AEgyptiacum, or Egyptian marjoram: 
leaves fleftiy, tomentofe 5 fpikes naked. This is a peren¬ 
nial plant, with a low (hrubby ftalk, feldom rijing more 
than a foot and a half high, dividing into branches. Leaves 
roundift), thick, woolly, hollowed like a ladle ; they are 
like thofe of common marjoram, but of a thicker fub- 
ftance, and have much the lame fcent. The flowers are 
produced in roundilh fpikes, clofely joined together at 
the top of the ftalks, and at the end of the fmall fide 
branches j they are of a pale flelh-colour, peeping out of 
731 
their fcaly coverings. Haflelquift mentions that it is cul¬ 
tivated in the gardens at Cairo on account of its fmell, 
which is ftronger than that of dittany of Crete, aroma¬ 
tic, and comforting the head ; and that the Arabians cal! 
it Zatar Henrli, that is, Origanum Indicum. Native of 
Egypt; cultivated in 1731 by Mr. Miller, flowers from 
June to Auguft. 
2. Origanum di&amnus, dittany of Crete or Candia: 
lower leaves tomentofe ; fpikes nodding. This alfo is a 
perennial plant. Stalks hairy, about nine inches high, 
of a purplilli colour, fending out fmall branches from the 
fides by pairs. Leaves round, thick, woolly. The whole 
plant has a piercing aromatic fcent, and biting tafte. The 
flowers are collected in ioofe leafy heads, of a purple co¬ 
lour, and nodding; they are fmall, and the ftamens 
ftand out beyond the corolla. The fabulous qualities at¬ 
tributed to diflamnus may be feenin Virgil’s 12th FEneid, 
and in Cicero de Natura Deorum. Native of the ifland 
of Candia; and, according to Loureiro, of China near 
Canton. It flowers from June to Auguft. Cultivated 
in 1368 by Mr. Riche, as appears from Turner’s Herbal. 
It is reprefented on the annexed Plate. 
3. Origanum Sipyleum, or dittany of mount Sipylus: 
leaves all fmooth ; fpikes nodding. This has a perennial 
root, but an annual ftalk. The root is compofed of many 
(lender woody fibres. The leaves are oval, fmooth, and 
of a greyifh colour; the ftalks are (lender, of a purplifh 
colour, fmooth, near two feet high, fending out (lender 
branches oppofite, terminated by (lender oblong fpikes of 
fmall purplifh flowers, peeping out of their fcaly covers. 
The ftamens are extended beyond the corolla to a confi- 
derable length. It grows naturally in the Levant, and 
was difcovered by fir George Wheeler on mount Sipylus: 
he fent the feeds to the Oxford garden, where it was 
cultivated in 1699 by Mr. Jacob Bobart. It flowers from 
June to September. 
4,. Origanum Tournefortii, or dittany of Amorgos : 
fpikes four-cornered 5 braftes roundifh, very large. Root 
fometimes as large as the thumb, woody, about a foot 
long, brown without, reddifh within, with twitted fibres. 
Stems eight or nine inches high, glaucous, fimple, or 
branched. Leaves round or oval, nine or ten lines in 
length, not unlike thofe of N° 2. fome of them thick, 
fleftiy, and fmooth ; others thinner, and flightly villofe ; 
fome are infipid, others (harp ; fome odoriferous, others 
without fcent. The feeds vegetated well in the Royal 
Garden at Paris, and the plant was not altered by cul¬ 
ture. Native of the ifland of Amorgos; introduced in 
1788 by the late John Sibthorp, M.D. It flowers in Au¬ 
guft. 
Mr. Miller applies this name of Tournefort’s to his 
twelfth fort, which, he fays, is undoubtedly a variety pro¬ 
duced from the intermixing the farina of the Cretan dit¬ 
tany with that of mount Sipylus ; for the plants in the 
garden belonging to the Company of Apothecaries were 
accidentally produced from the feeds of one fpecies, 
where both forts flood near each other, in the botanic 
garden of John Browning, efq. at Chelfea. 
Mr. Miller had alfo dried famples of another variety, 
which arofe from feeds in the Leyden garden ; thefe feed's 
were fent from Paris, by the name which Tournefort 
gave to that which he found in the Levant. The leaves 
of this are as large as thofe of the dittany of Crete, but 
not fo thick or woody; the ftalks rife more like thofe of 
the dittany of mount Sipylus, but branch out wider at the 
top; the flowers grow in clofer cl ufters, and do not hang 
downward : they are fmall, (haped like thofe of the former 
fort, and flower at the fame time. 
By the charafter which Linnaeus gave to the Cretan 
dittany, it may be fuppofed he had not feen the true fort, 
for it better fuits the variety. All the leaves of the true 
dittany are very thick and woolly, even thofe which are 
fituated immediately below the flowers, whereas the 
lower leaves only are fo in his charafter. 
Mr. Miller’s hybridum fee ms to be only a variety of 
a the 
