Oregano
Origanum vulgare
Family · Lamiaceae · Harmless
The same oregano as the kitchen jar, growing on mountain verges and dry banks. Recognised by its immediate scent and its pinkish flower heads in late summer.
Roadsides and waste ground · Scrubland · Uplands · Walls and rocks
Also known aswild marjoram
How to tell it
Reddish stems, small opposite leaves, and tiny flowers in flat-topped clusters, pink or white, with dark bracts. The smell settles it in two seconds.
What it is confused with
Lesser calamint
Clinopodium nepeta
They grow on the same verge and are both harmless aromatic mints. Lesser calamint smells of mint with loose white or lilac flowers; oregano smells of oregano and forms a flat-topped cluster.
What it is for
A seasoning across the Mediterranean, traditionally gathered in flower and dried in the shade. Also taken as an infusion in the northern sierras.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.