Mentha is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae. The exact distinction between species is unclear; it is estimated that 13 to 24 species exist. Hybridization occurs naturally where some species' ranges overlap. Many hybrids and cultivars are known.
Marjoram is a cold-sensitive perennial herb or undershrub with sweet pine and citrus flavours. In some Middle Eastern countries, marjoram is synonymous with oregano, and there the names sweet marjoram and knotted marjoram are used to distinguish it from other plants of the genus Origanum. It is also called pot marjoram, although this name is also used for other cultivated species of Origanum.
Oregano is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It was native to the Mediterranean region, but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate Northern Hemisphere.
Thymol, C10H14O, is a natural monoterpenoid phenol derivative of p-Cymene, isomeric with carvacrol, found in oil of thyme, and extracted from Thymus vulgaris, ajwain, and various other plants as a white crystalline substance of a pleasant aromatic odor and strong antiseptic properties. Thymol also provides the distinctive, strong flavor of the culinary herb thyme, also produced from T. vulgaris. Thymol is only slightly soluble in water at neutral pH, but it is extremely soluble in alcohols and other organic solvents. It is also soluble in strongly alkaline aqueous solutions due to deprotonation of the phenol. Its dissociation constant (pKa) is 10.59±0.10. Thymol absorbs maximum UV radiation at 274 nm.
Za'atar is a culinary herb or family of herbs. It is also the name of a spice mixture that includes the herb along with toasted sesame seeds, dried sumac, often salt, as well as other spices. As a family of related Middle Eastern herbs, it contains plants from the genera Origanum (oregano), Calamintha, Thymus, and Satureja (savory) plants. The name za'atar alone most properly applies to Origanum syriacum, considered in biblical scholarship to be the ezov of the Hebrew Bible, often translated as hyssop but distinct from modern Hyssopus officinalis. Used in Levantine cuisine, both the herb and spice mixture are popular throughout the Mediterranean region of the Middle East.
Origanum dictamnus, the dittany of Crete, Cretan dittany or hop marjoram, is a tender perennial plant that grows 20–30 cm high. It is known in Greek as δίκταμο or in the Cretan dialect as έρωντας. It is a therapeutic and aromatic plant that grows wild only on the mountainsides and gorges of the Greek island of Crete. It is widely used for food flavouring and medicinal purposes, in addition to featuring as an ornamental plant in gardens. This small, lanate shrub is easily recognised by the distinctive soft, woolly covering of white-grey hair on its stems and round green leaves, giving it a velvety texture. Its tiny rose-pink flowers are surrounded by brighter purple-pink bracts in summer and autumn. The dittany is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plant Species 1997.
Origanum is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in scattered locations in North America and other regions.
The Pyraloidea are a moth superfamily containing about 16,000 described species worldwide, and probably at least as many more remain to be described. They are generally fairly small moths, and as such, they have been traditionally associated with the paraphyletic Microlepidoptera.
Carvacrol, or cymophenol, C6H3(CH3)(OH)C3H7, is a monoterpenoid phenol. It has a characteristic pungent, warm odor of oregano.
Origanum syriacum; syn. Majorana syriaca, bible hyssop, Biblical-hyssop, Lebanese oregano or Syrian oregano, is an aromatic perennial herb in the mint family, Lamiaceae.
Paracorsia is a monotypic moth genus of the family Crambidae described by H. Marion in 1959. It contains only one species, Paracorsia repandalis, described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in most of Europe, except Ireland, Fennoscandia and the Baltic region. It has also been recorded from central Asia, including Iran and Kyrgyzstan and North America where it has been recorded in southern Ontario and northern Indiana.
Scopula ornata, the lace border, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in his 1763 Entomologia Carniolica. It is found in Europe, North Africa and the Near East.
Retusin is an O-methylated flavonol, a type of flavonoid. It can be found in Origanum vulgare and in Ariocarpus retusus.
Phycitodes binaevella is a species of snout moth described by Jacob Hübner in 1813. It is found in most of Europe, Asia Minor, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories.
Phycitodes maritima is a species of snout moth. It is found in most of Europe.
Origanum onites, the Cretan oregano, Greek oregano, pot marjoram or Ellinikí rίgani in Greek, is a plant species in the genus Origanum found in Sicily, Greece and Turkey. It has similar flavors as oregano. Its essential oil can be distinguished from other species such as Greek oregano. It has antimicrobial activities.
Origanum laevigatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Cyprus, Syria, and Turkey. Growing to 50–60 cm (20–24 in) tall by 45 cm (18 in) wide, it is a woody-based perennial, with strongly aromatic leaves, and loose clusters of pink funnel-shaped flowers with persistent purple bracts, throughout the summer.
Origanum rotundifolium, the round-leaved oregano, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Turkey, Armenia and Georgia. It is a small woody-based perennial or subshrub growing to 10–30 cm (4–12 in) tall by 30 cm (12 in) wide, with strongly aromatic leaves, and loose clusters of pink flowers with hop-like pale green bracts, throughout the summer.
Origanum libanoticum is a species of herbaceous flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to the mountains of Lebanon and Syria.
Hyalorista opalizalis is a pyraloid moth in the subfamily Pyraustinae of the family Crambidae. It was described in 1854 by the French entomologist Achille Guenée based on two male and two female adult specimens collected in Brazil.
