the fecond fort, and by no means the fame with this of 
Tournefort. 
5. Origanum Creficum, or Cretan marjoram: fpikes 
aggregate, long, prifmatic, ftraigjk ; brafhes membrana¬ 
ceous, twice as long as the calyx. This is the origanum 
of Crete, directed to be nfed in medicine; but there has 
been great confufion among botanifts in* diftinguilhing 
the fpecies. It rifes a foot and a half high. The leaves 
are ovate and hoary, with a ftrong aromatic fcent. The 
flowers grow in long erect bunched fpikes at the top of 
the Halles, having membranaceous bradtes between, twice 
the length of the calyx ; the flowers are final 1 and white, 
like thofe of common origanum. It flowers in July, but 
feldom perfedls feeds in England. Native of the fouth 
ol Europe, about Balil, and in Paleftine on Mount Liba- 
nus, the Mount of Olives, and between Rama and Joppa; 
in China near Canton, according to Loureiro. 
6. Origanum Smyrnaeum, or Smyrna marjoram : leaves 
ovate, acute, ferrate; fpikes heaped, umbellately-faftigi- 
ate. This is a perennial plant, with feveral rod-like 
woody long ftems, putting forth branchlets at intervals. 
Leaves fmaller than thofe of Cretan marjoram, lefs hoary, 
and not fo round, but rather oblong, acuminate, nerved, 
and fornewhat lanuginofe. Scaly heads terminate the 
ftems and branches. It exhales a-vefy fragrant fmell. 
Found by fir George Wheeler abundantly at Smyrna, 
on the mount upon which the citadel is built. Lin- 
nseus adds Crete ; and Tournefort gives it the epithet 
Crctica. 
7. Origanum Heracleoticum, or winter fweet marjoram : 
fpikes long, peduncled 1 , aggregate ; braftes the length of 
the calyxes. Root perennial ; from which arife many 
branching ftalks a foot and a half high, hairy, and inclining 
to a purplilh colour. Leaves ovate, obtufe, hairy, refem- 
bling greatly thofe of fweet marjoram, on flvort foot-ftalks. 
Flovvers\in fpikes about two inches long, feveral arifing 
together from the diviiions of the ftalk ; they are final!, 
white, peeping out of their fcaly covers. Linnaeus re¬ 
marks, that it has the habit of common marjoram, but 
that the fpikes are a finger’s length, loofely imbricate. 
It differs from O. Creticum, in having the bradles longer 
than the calyxes, and the fpikes peduncled. It grows 
naturally in Greece and the warm parts of Europe. It 
is novr commonly known by the name of winter fweet 
marjoram, but was formerly called pot-marjoram. It is 
chiefly cultivated for nsfegays, becauleit comes fooner to 
flower than fweet marjoram. There is a variety with va¬ 
riegated leaves. Mr. Miller cultivated it in 1731. Ac¬ 
cording to Loureiro, it is a native of China and Cochin- 
china. 
8. Origanum vulgare, or common marjoram: fpikes 
roundifl), panicled, conglomerate; bradles longer than 
the calyx, ovate. Root perennial, creeping, horizontal, 
brown, tufted with numerous fibres. Stem eighteen 
■inches, or near two feet, in height, upright, fornewhat 
woody, a little downy, and often tinged with purple: 
branches oppofite, upright, more tender than the ftalk, in 
other refpedls fimilar. Leaves ovate, pointed, finely and 
thinly toothed, above nearly fmooth,beneath downy, dotted 
on both iides, the edges finely ciliate, fpreading. The axils 
of the leaves, in the cultivated plant, bear numerous 
fmaller leaves. Corolla of the flower, pale-red, hairy, the 
middle fegment rather longer than the reft. 
Wild marjoram is an aromatic and ornamental plant, 
growing wild in thickets and hedges, chiefly in a calca¬ 
reous foil ; and flowering from the end of June through 
Auguft. The dried leaves, ufed i.nftead of tea, are ex¬ 
ceedingly grateful; they are alfo ufed in fomentations. 
The eflential oil is fo acrid, that it may be conlidered as . 
a cauftic, and is much ufed with that intention by far¬ 
riers ; a little cotton moiftened with it, and put into the 
hollow of an aching tooth, frequently relieves the pain. 
The country people ufe the tops to dye woollen cloth 
purple. It alio .dyes linen of a reddilh-brown colour; 
for this purpofe the linen is flrft maceratedjn alum-water 
and dried; it is then foaked for two days in a decodlion 
of the bark of the crab-tree ; it is wrung out of this, 
boiled in a ley of allies, and then fullered to boil in the 
decoclion. According to the Swedilh experiments, 
goats and flieep eat it; horfes are not fond of it ; and kine 
ref ufe it. 
The leaves vary in fliape from ovate to ovate-lanceolate 
and ovate-cordate. There is a variety with white flowers 
and light-green ftalks; and another with variegated 
leaves. It is oftentimes cultivated in gardens; and is by 
fome called pot-marjoram, being commonly ufed in foups. 
Our wild marjoram is found not only in molt parts of 
Europe, but alfo in the rocky parts of Canada, where the 
bradles are of a very high colour. Mr. Profeflor Mar- 
tyn has placed three of Mr. Miller’s fpecies as varieties 
under this. 
9. Origanum onites, or pot-marjoram: fpikes oblong, 
aggregate, hirfute, leaves cordate, tomentofe. Pot-mar¬ 
joram has the habit of fweet marjoram (O. majorana), 
but it is woody'. Stems perennial, woody, a foot and a half 
high, dividing into many fmall branches. Leaves a little 
larger than thofe of marjoram, and woolly. Flowers fmall, 
white, juft emerging out of their fcaly covers. They ap¬ 
pear in July, but feldom perfedt feeds in England. Na¬ 
tive of Sicily, about Syracufe. Cultivated in 1759 by 
Mr. Miller. 
10. Origanum Syriacum, or Syrian marjoram: fpikes 
long, ternate, peduncled, villofe; leaves ovate, villofe. 
This alfo has the habit of O. majorana. Leaves roundilh- 
ovate, acute, with wandering hairs fcattered over them. 
Place of growth uncertain. According to Loureiro, It 
grows wild in Cochin-china. 
11. Origanum maru : fpikes hirfute; leaves ovate, to¬ 
mentofe, feflile. This has alfo the appearance of the next 
fpecies, but is more rigid. Stem purple, with a few vil¬ 
lofe hairs fcattered over it. Native of Crete. 
ii, Origanum majorana, fweet or knotted marjoram : 
leaves oval, blunt; fpikes roundifli, compadl, pubefeent. 
Root biennial, brown, with many long tough fibres. 
Stems numerous, woody, branched, a foot and a half 
high. Leaves devyny, entire, pale-green, petioled. Flow¬ 
ers fmall, white, appearing fucceffively between the brae- 
teal leaves, which are numerous, and form roundifli com- 
padt terminating fpikes. It begins to flower in July, at 
which time it is cut for ufe; and is then called knotted 
marjoram, from the flowers being collected into roundifli 
dole heads like knots. 
Sweet marjoram was cultivated here in 1597, as appears 
from Gerard’s Herbal. Loureiro fays it grows in China 
and Cochin-china; but it is rare, and perhaps introduced 
from abroad. It is thought to be the <ra.p.\po^ov or ama- 
vacua of the ancients. The place of which it is a native 
has not been afeertained. The leaves and tops have a 
pleafant fmell, and a moderately-warm aromatic bitterilh 
tafte. They yield a confiderable quantity of eflential 0:!, 
amounting, according to' Beaume, to fifteen ounces from 
150 pounds of the recent plant. This oil, on being long- 
kept, aifumes a folid form. The medicinal qualities of 
this plant agree with thofe of wild marjoram ; but, being 
much more fragrant, it is deemed more cephalic, and 
better.adapted to thofe complaints known by the name 
of nervous, and may be therefore employed with the fame 
intentions as lavender. It is diredled in the compofition 
of Pulvis fternutatorius in the London and Edinburgh 
Pharmacopoeias, with a view to the agreeable odour which 
it gives to the afarabacca, rather than to its errhine 
power, which-is very inconfiderable. In its recent ftate, 
we are told that it has been fuccefsfully applied to fchir- 
rous tumours of the breads-, Our Englifh name is evi¬ 
dently corrupted from majorana; by our old herbal ills it 
is written marjerome ; and Gerard lays, of the heft fort it 
was called majorane. 
Propagation and Culture, 1. It is increafed by flips or 
. cuttings. 
