Wild marjoram (Origanum vulgare)

Image: © Evelyn Simak Taken: 7 Sep 2017

Wild marjoram > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5529015 is a member of the mint family and can be found growing on dry, infertile and usually calcareous soils in grasslands and along hedges and road verges but not in pastures as it is vulnerable to grazing. It is also known to colonise bare or sparsely vegetated ground such as quarries. The long roots with numerous root hairs allow the plant to exploit subsoil water in periods of drought. Its flowers are particularly attractive to butterflies. The plant is cultivated for their aromatic leaves, used either fresh or dried, for flavouring and other culinary purposes. Marjoram has a very long tradition of use in traditional medicine. The Greeks used it extensively, both internally and externally for fomentations and for treating narcotic poisons, convulsions and dropsy. Its properties are stimulant, carminative, diaphoretic and mildly tonic. A few drops, put on cotton-wool and placed in the hollow of an aching tooth are said to relieve the pain. Externally, the dried leaves and flowers can be applied in bags as a hot fomentation to painful swellings and rheumatism. An infusion made from the fresh plant reputedly relieves nervous headache.

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