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Common Name: Pot Marjoram

General Information

Origanum onites is a perennial plant that can grow up to 0.30 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Europe - Mediterranean

Habitat

Stony hills and rocky slopes, usually on limestone, occasionally in partial shade, to 1400 metres in Turkey[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	0.30 m
Pollinators	Bees
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a rather dry, warm, well-drained soil, but is not fussy as to soil type[, ], thriving on chalk[]. Prefers slightly alkaline conditions[].
This species is not hardy in the colder areas of the country, it tolerates temperatures down to about -10°c[].
Sometimes cultivated as a culinary herb.
A good companion plant, improving the flavour of nearby plants[, ]. The flowers are very attractive to bees[].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[].

Edible Uses

Leaves - raw or cooked. They are used as a flavouring for salad dressings, vegetables and legumes and are best added in the final stages of cooking[, ]. A strong thyme-like aroma, the leaves are used as a substitute for oregano or marjoram, but they are inferior in flavour[, ]. A slightly bitter flavour, it is not nearly so sweet and delicate as O. majorana or O. vulgare[]. Its flavour, however, lasts longer in cooked dishes[].
A herb tea is made from the leaves[].

Medicinal

The leaves and flowering stems are antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, cholagogue, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, stimulant, stomachic and mildly tonic[, ]. They are harvested in the summer and can be used fresh or dried[].

Other Uses

An essential oil from the leaves is used as a food flavouring and in perfumery[, , ].
The leaves and flowering stems are added to pot-pourri and scented articles[].
The plant is often used to disinfect bee hives[].

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring at 10 - 13°c and only just cover the seed. Germination usually takes place within 2 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer.
The seed can also be sown in situ in late spring.
Division in early spring or early autumn. Very easy, larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer.
Basal cuttings of young barren shoots in early summer. Very easy. Harvest the shoots with plenty of underground stem when they are about 8 - 10cm above the ground. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer.