Scientific name: Origanum vulgare L.
Common name: Wild Marjoram
Description
Habit: An aromatic, hairy perennial, to 70 cm high.
Stems: Erect, square, branched, reddish, hairy.
Leaves: Opposite, stalked, not cordate at base, undivided, oval, 2-3 cm long.
Flowers: Pinkish-purple, zygomorphic, 4-7 mm long in compact whorl-like clusters arranged in a terminal corymbose panicle; inflorescence bracts often red or purple; calyx tubular, 5-toothed, teeth equal; corolla tubular, of 5 fused petals, 2-lipped, upper lip notched, lower lip 3-lobed; stamens 4, attached to the corolla, usually in two pairs, one longer than the other; ovary superior.
Fruits: A group of 4 1-seeded nutlets.
Habitat: Roadsides, grassy banks.Distribution: Locally abundant in the Burren, rare elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No