Origanum vulgare (oregano)

Oregano is native to the Mediterranean, Europe (including the British Isles) and south and central Asia, and is cultivated elsewhere.

Origanum vulgare with hoverfly (Image: Wolfgang Stuppy)

Origanum vulgare is an aromatic, woody-based perennial, which grows to 20-90 cm in height. Its leaves are ovate (egg-shaped, with the wider end at the base), 10-40 mm long and 5-25 mm wide, and borne opposite each other on the stem. The edges of the leaves are smooth or very shallowly toothed, and the leaf tips vary from acute (pointed) to obtuse (rounded). The inflorescence is many-flowered, with flowers grouped into short dense lateral or terminal spikes. The corolla (ring of united petals) is white to purplish, 4-8 mm long, and has two lips. The calyx (ring of united sepals) is five-toothed. Each flower has four stamens (male parts). Each fruit has four small nutlets (single-seeded units).

This species is not threatened. It is common within its native areas and also widely cultivated.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership aims to save plant life world wide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in our seed bank vault.

Number of seed collections stored in the Millennium Seed Bank: 6
Seed storage behaviour: Orthodox (the seeds of this plant survive drying without significant reduction in their viability, and are therefore amenable to long-term frozen storage such as at the MSB)
Germination testing: Successful
Composition values: Oil content 35%, Protein 26%

Origanum vulgare grows well in the sandy soil of the Mediterranean Garden at Kew. It thrives in full sun and is drought-tolerant. Seed can be sown in seed trays in an open sandy compost for propagation. Germination can be erratic. After pricking out, the seedlings can be planted out into their final positions when the roots have extended well into a 7.5 cm pot. Alternatively, plants can be divided, or softwood cuttings grown. At Kew, where a natural appearance is favoured, watering is minimal and plants are not fed, as this would cause unnaturally lush growth.

The aromatic quality of the species means that it tends not to suffer from pests. Frost damage can occur, but usually only the smaller plants succumb to it, with the larger plants recovering well.

In 2011, Kew partnered with The Times to produce a show garden to showcase the significance of plants to science and society.

The garden, designed by Chelsea gold medallist Marcus Barnett, featured species chosen to demonstrate both beauty and utility, including medicinal, commercial, and industrial uses to underline the fact that plants are invaluable to our everyday lives – without them, none of us could live on this planet; they produce our food, clothing and the air that we breathe.

Origanum vulgare is the wild relative of the cultivar Origanum vulgare 'Thumble's Variety', which wass featured in Kew’s garden at Chelsea. A cultivar is a cultivated variant of a species, which is often called a ‘variety’ in the horticultural trade. Cultivars usually have characteristics that make them more desirable to growers, for example a carrot that is sweeter than its wild relative or a rose with less thorns than its wild counterpart.

- Find out more about the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show

- Browse some of the other plants that featured in the garden

Find out more about the mint (Lamiaceae) family

More information on Origanum syriacum

Science at Kew: find out about the work of Kew’s Lamiaceae team

Interactive key to the Lamiaceae: Origanum factsheet

BBC recipes: oregano