Use.—The young shoots, cut at the time of flowering and dried in the shade, are used as Sweet Marjoram for seasoning soups and meats. The whole plant is highly aromatic.
Sweet Marjoram.
Knotted Marjoram. Origanum majorana.
Sweet Marjoram is a native of Portugal. Though a biennial, it is always treated as an annual; not being sufficiently hardy to withstand the winters of the Middle or Northern States in the open ground. The plant is of low growth, with a branching stem, and oval or rounded leaves. The flowers, which appear in July and August, are of a purplish color, and produced in compact clusters, or heads, resembling knots: whence the term "Knotted Marjoram" of many localities. The seeds are brown, exceedingly small, and retain their germinative properties three years.
Sowing and Cultivation.—Sweet Marjoram is raised from seeds sown annually in April, May, or June. Its propagation, however, is generally attended with more or less difficulty, arising from the exceeding minuteness of the seeds, and the liability of the young seedlings to be destroyed by the sun before they become established. The seeds are sown in drills ten or twelve inches apart, and very thinly covered with finely pulverized loam. Coarse light matting is often placed over the bed immediately after sowing, to facilitate vegetation; and, if allowed to remain until the plants are well up, will often preserve a crop which would otherwise be destroyed.
The seeds are sometimes sown in a hot-bed, and the plants set out in May or June, in rows twelve inches apart, and six inches apart in the rows.
Gathering.—The plants, when in flower or fully developed, are cut to the ground; and, for winter use, are dried and preserved as other pot-herbs.
Use.—Sweet Marjoram is highly aromatic, and is much used, both in the green state and when dried, for flavoring broths, soups, and stuffings.
Pot Marjoram.
Origanum onites.