Origanum vulgare L.
Eng.: European oregano, pot marjoram. Spa.: Orégano. Fre.: Origan, marjolaine. Ara.: Zaateur, za’tar.
Shrub, evergreen, hermaphrodite, up to 1(1.3) m in height, herbaceous in appearance, woody at the lower part, rhizomatous. Stems branched, at least at the upper part, with internodes with 2 puberulent or villous faces and 2 glabrous ones. Leaves opposite, 4-40(50) × 2-23 mm, subsessile or petiolate; petiole 2-12 mm, hairy; leaf blade ovate or elliptical, acute, ciliate, laxly hairy and with sessile yellow glands, green on the upper side and glaucous on the underside. Inflorescences in spikes of verticillasters up to 2.5 cm, very dense, grouped in capituliform inflorescences, with bracts 4-9 × 2.5-5(6) mm, elliptical or ovate, entire or denticulate, ciliate, green, yellow-green or purple, with yellowish sessile glands. Flowers with pedicel c. 0.5 mm. Calyx (2.5)2.8-3.5(4) mm, tubular, with 5 teeth and sessile yellowish or reddish glands. Corolla 4.5-10 mm, white or cream. Fruit a subspherical nutlet, c. 1 × 0.8 mm, dark brown.
Flowering:
May to August (November).
Fruiting:
About 2 months after flowering.
Habitat:
Thickets, forest clearings, in preferably alkaline soils between 500-1,700 m in altitude.
Distribution:
Throughout most of Europe, NW Africa and W Asia. In North Africa it is found in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Observations:
This species is represented in North Africa by 2 subspecies: subsp. virens (Hoffmanns. & Link) Ietsw., endemic to Macaronesia, Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands and Morocco, where it is relatively common in the Middle Atlas and High Atlas; and subsp. glandulosum (Desf.) Ietsw., typical of NE Algeria and N Tunisia.
The other species of this genus in the region with relatively good size are:
O. compactum Benth. It differs from O. vulgare by having more clearly woody stems, simple, up to 80 cm, with more elongated spikes of verticillasters (up to 3 cm) and subcylindrical, with ovate-lanceolate or obovate bracts, and larger flowers, with corolla (7.5)9-10.5(11) mm and 3 times longer than the calyx. It is endemic to S Spain and N Morocco, where it grows on sandstone.
O. syriacum L. A shrub up to 90 cm, densely tomentose, with profusely branched woody stems, and with leaves ovate and obtuse 5-15 × 4-12 mm; unlike the other 2 species, which have a tubular calyx, the calyx has an oblique throat, open at the lower end, and the corolla has a short tube, of less than 2 times the length of the calyx. It is characteristic of arid or desert areas of the eastern Mediterranean. In North Africa it is found only in Egypt, Sinai Peninsula [subsp. sinaicum (Boiss.) Greuter & Burdet].
Conservation status:
O. vulgare is a common and widespread species. O. compactum and O. syriacun are more rare and with much smaller distribution areas. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) O. syriacum subsp. sinaicum is listed as “Endangered”.