Oregano is a perennial plant from the Iasnatkovye family. It is famous for its abundant flowering and pleasant aroma. Actually, the Russian name reflects this. The official name for oregano is origanum. The word comes from the ancient Greek "splendor", "mountain". What can be interpreted as a decoration of the mountains. The birthplace of the plant is the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Some species are common in the Caucasus, Taiwan and southern Siberia. Oregano can become a delicate decoration of the garden, covering the ground with a solid greenish-pink carpet. It is also used as a spicy oregano seasoning, and is also used for medicinal purposes. You can plant bushes not only in the garden, but also in a pot on the balcony.
Botanical characteristics
Oregano is a plant with grassy, branched shoots that often form a shrub of 30-75 cm in height. Her roots are bare, horizontal, so the plant is able to sprawl and take over new territories. On an upright tetrahedral stem at the base there is a rare pile.
Opposite ovoid or oval leaflets densely grow along the entire length. They have solid edges and a pointed end. The dense dark green surface is streaked with a mesh of veins. The flip side has a grayish tint. The length of the sheet plate is only 1-4 cm.
The top of the shoot from July to August is decorated with a dense inflorescence-panicle. It contains small tubular flowers of gray-pink or violet-pink color. Each corolla is surrounded by a dark red-violet bract. The flower has a two-lip structure with an underdeveloped lower lip. Stamens protrude from the center.
After pollination, cylindrical seed capsules mature with a reddish crown on top and ribbed sides. Inside are small kidney-shaped seeds with dark brown skin. In 1 g of seed, there are about 10,000 units.
Species and varieties
Although there are more than 50 species in the genus oregano, various varieties are most often used. Creating them, breeders lay resistance to natural conditions or certain taste and aromatic qualities.
Origanum ordinary. A herbaceous perennial plant grows 50-70 cm in height. It has branched creeping roots and erect stems. The shoots below are covered with soft nap, and on the top they branch strongly. Opposite petioles of oval or ovoid form grow on them. The length of the dark green leaf is 1-4 cm. In June-July, dense corymbose inflorescences blossom on the top of the stems and in the axils of the upper leaves. Flowers with a dark purple cup and light pink petals exude a pleasant aroma. Varieties:
- white oregano - abundantly covered with thick white inflorescences;
- caramel - has a pleasant taste and strong aroma;
- fragrant bunch - a plant up to 30 cm tall exudes an intense aroma and blooms with pale purple inflorescences;
- rainbow - a shrub up to 60-70 cm in height is distinguished by bright purple leaves and contains a large number of useful anthocyanins;
- gold tip - dwarf bushes (10-15 cm in height) are covered with small green leaves with yellow tips. They bloom with light pink inflorescences;
- Aureum - on a bush up to 25 cm in height, golden leaves and yellow flowers bloom.
Cretan oregano (dictamnus). The average height of this perennial is 20-30 cm, although sometimes it grows to 1 m. Dense shoots are covered with oval, almost round leaves with silvery pubescence. Inflorescences with small light pink flowers are hidden under larger bracts of a greenish-pink hue. They grow on a flexible peduncle and are very reminiscent of hop cones. The juice of this variety contains active substances with an antimicrobial effect. Back in the days of Hippocrates, it was taken for stomach pains.
Growing oregano
Most often, oregano is grown from seeds. First, you can grow seedlings or immediately sow them in open ground. The seedling method allows you to get a full-fledged flowering plant earlier and harvest. To do this, already in early March prepare cassettes or boxes filled with loose, nutrient soil with the addition of sand and peat. Seeds are distributed on the surface as evenly as possible and slightly crushed by the ground. Then the containers are covered with a film for the greenhouse effect and put a bright place with a temperature of + 18 ... + 20 ° C.
Condensate should be removed daily and the soil sprayed from the spray bottle. Entries will appear within 1-1.5 weeks. They are aired more often, but they are not in a hurry to completely remove shelters. At the age of 1 month, the film is removed and dive seedlings in separate peat pots. In mid-May, with stable warm weather, seedlings are moved to the open ground. An open, sunny place on a hill is selected for her. Landing pits at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other make shallow. Flowering is expected in the first year of life.
Immediately in open ground, crops are produced in mid-April. Pre-dig the site and break up large clods of land. Since the seeds are very small, they will need a little. In advance, planting material is mixed with sand or sawdust. Crops are performed in holes 1-1.5 cm deep. From above, they are only slightly sprinkled with peat. Depending on weather conditions, germination takes about 2 weeks. Plants develop well. It is enough from time to time to loosen the soil and remove weeds. Flowering with this method of planting begins in the second year.
In addition to the seed method, oregano is propagated by vegetative methods. It is better to do this in the spring, so that young plants have time to adapt and prepare for wintering. Types of breeding:
- Division of the bush. Large plants are dug up, freed from the ground and divided into 2-3 parts. Be careful not to damage the roots and shoots. Planting is done immediately, so as not to overdry the rhizome.
- Rooting layers. At the beginning of the growing season, the bush is pressed to the ground and individual branches are sprinkled with soil. It is important to regularly water all buried sprouts. They will take root this year, but the separation and transplantation is carried out next spring.
Outdoor Care
Although oregano is relatively unpretentious, in the first year it will need much more attention than in the future. Planting is carried out in an open, well-lit area with permeable fertile soil. Close occurrence of groundwater is unacceptable.
Oregano can suffer from drought, so watering is carried out regularly. The soil should dry only in the upper layers. If the weather is too rainy, then the bushes suffer from waterlogging. For prevention, grooves are dug around the beds to drain water.
Twice or thrice a year, starting in early spring, they feed. If the soil during planting was quite fertile, fertilization begins in the second year. To do this, saltpeter is sprinkled near the roots or plants are watered with mullein solution. Summer top dressing is carried out after harvesting. Decorative varieties do not fertilize at all or do it very sparingly, otherwise the shoots will grow too much and lose their beauty.
We should not forget about weeding and loosening the soil. Small plants quickly clog the weeds, and a dense crust on the ground prevents air from reaching the roots. Mulching the soil with shredded straw helps to make weeding less often.
In the first year, plants usually build up green mass and hardly bloom. If the inflorescences have formed, it is recommended to cut them. Pruning of bushes is carried out in the spring, removing the old growth almost completely. This stimulates the formation of young twigs. Oregano can grow in one place for no more than 3 years, after which it is necessary to transplant along with the division.
Modern varieties of oregano tolerate wintering well in open ground. Even in frosty winters, plants are kept in the snow along with green leaves. No additional shelter needed. If the ground part freezes, in the early spring new shoots will start from the root.
Composition, procurement of raw materials
Oregano grass contains:
- tannins;
- essential oils;
- ascorbic acid;
- flavonoids;
- phenolic acids.
The collection of raw materials is carried out from the second year of life at the peak of flowering. To do this, cut off the tops of shoots from a height of 15-20 cm from the ground. Leaves and inflorescences are most valued, but not stems. First, the branches are connected in small bundles. They are suspended or laid out under a canopy and dried. After drying, the leaves and flowers are torn off, and the stems are destroyed.
For harvesting seeds, summer pruning is not carried out. In September, the boxes are cut and dried. Then they are rubbed through a sieve.
What is useful oregano
From oregano, decoctions, water and alcohol infusions are prepared, and also essential oil is used. The drugs have bactericidal, sedative, expectorant, diaphoretic, antispasmodic and analgesic properties.
To prepare a decoction for 250 g of boiling water, use 2 tbsp. herbs. First, the raw materials are kept for 15 minutes in a water bath, and then insist another 45 minutes. The strained broth is slightly cooled and taken to a third of a glass twice a day before meals.
Reception of such a decoction allows you to cope with gastritis with low stomach acidity, inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract, cystitis, cough, acute respiratory infections, tonsillitis, periodontal disease, insomnia, eczema.
It is important to remember that taking oregano increases the tone of the smooth muscles of the uterus and causes its contraction. Therefore, during pregnancy, taking the medicine is strictly prohibited. Also, treatment is contraindicated for people suffering from gastric ulcer, hypertension, heavy bleeding of various nature. Since oregano contains many female phytohormones, it is not worth taking it to nursing women and young children.
Decoctions and infusions are used not only in medicine, but also in cosmetology. For oily hair, oregano is an ideal remedy. She retains the freshness of hair for longer. Regular rinsing of hair eliminates dandruff and seborrhea. Rubbing the face with lotion, you can clean the pores, give the skin elasticity, smoothness and a healthy color. Not only folk remedies are popular. Many manufacturers of body care cosmetics have lines with components of oregano.
Cooking use
Using oregano in cooking, some confuse it with thyme. Indeed, the plants are very similar in appearance and smell almost the same. However, thyme belongs to the genus Thyme of the same family and has slightly different properties.
In the kitchen, fragrant leaves are used as a spicy seasoning. They are added to the main dishes. Oregano is equally well combined with meat and fish. It will help to effectively shade salad, gravy, dishes with eggs and seafood. Oregano is also added to preservation, and in Russia several leaves were put in kvass. Tea is made from oregano. Its delicate aroma diversifies the menu, strengthens the body and relieves nervous tension.
