Origanum L.
Aromatic, gynodioecious or ⚥, annual or perennial herbs or small shrubs, not rhizomatous. Lvs simple, entire or shallowly toothed. Verticels 2-several-flowered, aggregated in short axillary or terminal heads or spikes, and these densely arranged in paniculate or corymbose infls. Bracts distinct in appearance from lvs and often conspicuously coloured, usually imbricate. Calyx campanulate or turbinate, (10)-13-nerved, not gibbous at base, either ± actinomorphic with teeth ± equal, or 2-lipped or 1-lipped with a deep slit on one side. Corolla 2-lipped, hairy or glabrous outside; upper lip entire or emarginate; lower lip 3-lobed. Stamens 4, usually exserted, spreading, straight, ascending under upper lip; filaments ± unequal; anther cells divergent. Style gynobasic, its branches equal. Nutlets ellipsoid or ovoid.
c. 20 spp., Eurasia, Mediterranean. Naturalised sp. 1.
The generic description includes sect. Marjorana (Miller) Vogel, 1 sp. of which is widely cultivated in N.Z. but has not been reported wild. This is O. marjorana L. (usually known as Marjorana hortensis), sweet marjoram or knotted marjoram, with grey-tomentose lvs and a 1-lipped calyx deeply slit on one side.
