''Hyssopus'' (hyssop) is a genus of herbaceous or semi-woody plants in the family Lamiaceae, native from the east

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

to central

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

as far east as

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> They are

aromatic In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic ( ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to satur ...

, with erect branched stems up to 60 cm long covered with fine hairs at the tips. The leaves are narrow oblong, 2–5 cm long. The small blue

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are borne on the upper part of the branches during summer. By far the best-known species is the herb hyssop (''H. officinalis''), widely cultivated outside its native area in the Mediterranean. Though commonly called "''hyssop''", anise hyssop ('' Agastache foeniculum''; also called blue giant hyssop) and all ''

Agastache ''Agastache'' () is a genus of aromatic flowering herbaceous perennial plants in the family Lamiaceae. It contains 22 species, mainly native to North America, one species native to eastern Asia. The common names of the species are a variety of f ...

'' species are not members of ''Hyssopus''. However, both genera are in the

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

family. ;Species # '' Hyssopus ambiguus'' (

Trautv. Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter (20 February 1809, in Jelgava – 24 January 1889, in St. Petersburg), was a Baltic German botanist, specialising in the flora of the Caucasus and central Asia. He was the son of Ernst Christian Johann von Trautvetter ...

) Iljin ex Prochorov. & Lebel - Altai Republic of Russia, Kazakhstan # '' Hyssopus cuspidatus'' Boriss. - Altai Republic, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, Mongolia # '' Hyssopus latilabiatus'' C.Y.Wu & H.W.Li - Xinjiang # '' Hyssopus macranthus'' Boriss. - Altai Republic of Russia, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan # ''

Hyssopus officinalis ''Hyssopus officinalis'' or hyssop is a shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea. Due to its purported properties as an antiseptic, cough reliever, and expec ...

'' L. - central + southern Europe, Algeria, Morocco, east to Iran # '' Hyssopus seravschanicus'' (Dub.) Pazij - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan # '' Hyssopus subulifolius'' (Rech.f.) Rech.f. - Afghanistan.

History

The name ''hyssop'' can be traced back almost unchanged through the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

ύσσωπος (). The name hyssop appears in some translations of the Bible, but researchers have suggested that the Biblical accounts refer not to the plant currently known as hyssop but rather to a related herb. The

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

translates the name as ὕσσωπος ''hyssop'', and English translations of the Bible often follow this rendering. The Hebrew word אזוב (''esov'' or ''esob'') and the Greek word ὕσσωπος probably share a common (unknown) origin. The biblical plant is discussed further at

ezov Ezov ( he, אֵזוֹב) is the Classical Hebrew name of a plant mentioned in the Bible in the context of religious rituals. In some English-language Bibles, the word is transliterated as ''ezob.'' The Septuagint translates the name as ὕσσ ...

End Uses

The herb hyssop is used both as a condiment and a medicine. Hyssop leaves and flowers are used to flavor salads and soups. It is also used in the preparation of liquor and perfumes. In addition, it is used as a pot herb. This herb is used in the treatment of throat and lung complaints, and is regarded as a stimulant, carminative, and expectorant. It is also effective in treating nervous disorders and toothache. Additionally, it is useful for treating pulmonary, digestive, uterine, urinary and asthma problems. Its leaves are stimulant, stomachic, carminative, and soothing to colic, and its juice is used to treat roundworms. In addition to its use as a flavoring agent in bitters and tonics, hyssop oil is also used in perfumery. Various types of bronchial catarrh and asthma can be treated with it in small quantities.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q720501 Lamiaceae Herbs Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Lamiaceae genera

History

End Uses

See also

References