''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

s and subshrubs in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Lamiaceae, native to

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North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, and much of temperate

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, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in scattered locations in North America and other regions. The plants have strongly aromatic leaves and abundant tubular flowers with long-lasting coloured bracts. The genus includes the important group of culinary herbs:

marjoram Marjoram (; ''Origanum majorana'') is a cold-sensitive perennial herb or undershrub with sweet pine and citrus flavours. In some Middle Eastern countries, marjoram is synonymous with oregano, and there the names sweet marjoram and knotted marj ...

(''Origanum majorana'') and oregano (''Origanum vulgare''). With their decorative bracts, ''Origanum'' species and cultivars are used as ornamental plants in the garden. The cultivars 'Kent Beauty' and 'Rosenkuppel' have received the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit. ''Origanum'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e of some Lepidoptera species, including '' Coleophora albitarsella''. ;Species # ''

Origanum acutidens ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in scat ...

'' (Hand.-Mazz.) Ietsw. - Turkey, Iraq # ''

Origanum × adanense ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' Baser & H.Duman - Turkey ''(O. bargyli × O. laevigatum)'' # ''

Origanum × adonidis ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' Mouterde - Lebanon ''(O. libanoticum × O. syriacum ''subsp''. bevanii)'' # ''

Origanum akhdarense ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' Ietsw. & Boulos - Cyrenaica region of eastern Libya # ''

Origanum amanum ''Origanum amanum'', the Amanum oregano, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to the Hatay Province of southern Turkey, bordering on Syria. It is an evergreen subshrub growing to tall by wide, with strongly aromat ...

'' Post - Hatay region of Turkey # ''

Origanum × barbarae ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' Bornm. - Lebanon ''(O. ehrenbergii × O. syriacum ''subsp''. bevanii)'' # ''

Origanum bargyli ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in scat ...

'' Mouterde - Turkey, Syria # ''

Origanum bilgeri ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' P.H.Davis - Antalya region of Turkey # ''

Origanum boissieri ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' Ietsw. - Turkey # ''

Origanum calcaratum ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' Juss. - Greece # '' Origanum compactum'' Benth. - Spain, Morocco # '' Origanum cordifolium'' (Montbret & Aucher ex Benth.) Vogel - Cyprus # ''

Origanum cyrenaicum ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in scat ...

'' Bég. & Vacc. - Cyrenaica region of eastern Libya # '' Origanum dayi'' Post - Israel # '' Origanum dictamnus'' L. – hop marjoram, Cretan dittany, dittany of Crete - endemic to Crete # '' Origanum × dolichosiphon'' P.H.Davis - Seyhan region of Turkey ''(O. amanum × O. laevigatum)'' # '' Origanum ehrenbergii'' Boiss. - Lebanon # ''

Origanum elongatum ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' (Bonnet) Emb. & Maire - Morocco # '' Origanum floribundum'' Munby - Algeria # '' Origanum × haradjanii'' Rech.f - Turkey ''(O. laevigatum × O. syriacum ''subsp''. bevanii)'' # '' Origanum haussknechtii'' Boiss. - Turkey # ''

Origanum husnucan-baseri ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' H.Duman, Aytac & A.Duran - Turkey # '' Origanum hypericifolium'' O.Schwarz & P.H.Davis - Turkey # '' Origanum × intercedens'' Rech.f. - Greece, Turkey ''(O. onites × O. vulgare ''subsp''. hirtum)'' # '' Origanum × intermedium'' P.H.Davis - Denizli region of Turkey ''(O. onites × O. sipyleum)'' # '' Origanum isthmicum'' Danin - Sinai # '' Origanum jordanicum'' Danin & Kunne - Jordan # '' Origanum laevigatum'' Boiss. - Turkey, Syria, Cyprus # '' Origanum leptocladum'' Boiss. - Turkey # '' Origanum libanoticum'' Boiss. - Lebanon # '' Origanum majorana'' L. – (sweet) marjoram - Turkey, Cyprus; naturalized in scattered locations in Europe, North Africa, North + South America # '' Origanum × lirium'' Heldr. ex Halácsy - Greece ''(O. scabrum × O. vulgare ''subsp''. hirtum)'' # '' Origanum × majoricum'' Cambess. – hardy sweet marjoram - Spain including Balearic Islands (O. majorana × O. vulgare subsp. virens) # '' Origanum microphyllum'' (Benth.) Vogel - Crete # '' Origanum × minoanum'' P.H.Davis - Crete ''(O. microphyllum × O. vulgare ''subsp''. hirtum)'' # '' Origanum minutiflorum'' O.Schwarz & P.H.Davis - Turkey # ''

Origanum munzurense ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' Kit Tan & Sorger - Turkey # '' Origanum × nebrodense'' Tineo ex Lojac - Sicily ''(O. majorana × O. vulgare ''subsp''. viridulum)'' # ''

Origanum onites ''Origanum onites'', the Cretan oregano, Greek oregano, pot marjoram or Ellinikí rίgani in Greek (Ελληνική ρίγανη), is a plant species in the genus ''Origanum'' found in Sicily, Greece and Turkey. It has similar flavors as oregan ...

'' L. - Greece, Turkey, Sicily # ''

Origanum × pabotii ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in sc ...

'' Mouterde - Syria ''(O. bargyli × O. syriacum ''subsp''. bevanii)'' # '' Origanum pampaninii'' (Brullo & Furnari) Ietsw - Cyrenaica region of eastern Libya # '' Origanum petraeum'' Danin - Jordan # '' Origanum punonense'' Danin - Jordan # '' Origanum ramonense'' Danin - Levant # '' Origanum rotundifolium'' Boiss. - Turkey, Caucasus # '' Origanum saccatum'' P.H.Davis - Turkey # '' Origanum scabrum'' Boiss. & Heldr. in P.E.Boissier - Greece # '' Origanum sipyleum'' L. -Turkey, Greek Islands # '' Origanum solymicum'' P.H.Davis - Antalya region of Turkey # '' Origanum symes'' Carlström - Islands of the Aegean Sea # ''

Origanum syriacum ''Origanum syriacum''; syn. ''Majorana syriaca'' (also ''Origanum maru'', although this primarily refers to a hybrid of ''O. syriacum''), bible hyssop, Biblical-hyssop, Lebanese oregano or Syrian oregano, is an aromatic perennial herb in the mint ...

'' L. - Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Sinai, Saudi Arabia # '' Origanum vetteri'' Briq. & Barbey - Crete # '' Origanum vogelii'' Greuter & Burdet - Turkey # ''

Origanum vulgare Oregano (, ; ''Origanum vulgare'') is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It was native to the Mediterranean region, but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Oregano is a woody perennial pl ...

'' L. - oregano - Europe, North Africa, temperate Asia (Iran, Siberia, Central Asia, China, etc.); naturalized in parts of North America, New Zealand, Venezuela

Formerly placed here

*''

Pogostemon benghalensis ''Pogostemon'' is a large genus from the family Lamiaceae, first described as a genus in 1815. It is native to warmer parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia. The best known member of this genus is patchouli, ''Pogostemon cablin'', widely cultivat ...

'' (Burm.f.) Kuntze (as ''O. benghalense'' Burm.f.)

References

External links

Herb Society of America Fact Sheet: Oregano and Marjoram (pdf)''Origanum dictamnus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q205265 Lamiaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus