Winter savory | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Lamiaceae |
Genus: | Satureja |
Species: | S. montana |
Binomial name | |
Satureja montana | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Satureja montana (winter savory or mountain savory), is a perennial, semi-evergreen herb in the family Lamiaceae, native to warm temperate regions of southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Africa. It has dark green leaves and summer flowers ranging from pale lavender, or pink to white. The closely related summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) is an annual plant.
It grows to between 10 and 40 cm (4 and 16 in) tall. [2] [3] The leathery, [3] dark green [4] leaves are opposite, oval-lanceolate or needle-like, [5] 1–2 cm long and 5 mm broad. The flowers appear in summer, [5] between July and October, [6] and range from pale lavender or pink to white. [3] [7] The flowers are smaller than summer savoury flowers. [8] It contains carvacrol, [7] a monoterpenoid phenol. [9]
The herb was first published by Carl Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum on page 568 in 1753. [1] [10] The Latin specific epithet montana refers to mountains or coming from mountains, [11] leading to the common name 'mountain savory'. [3]
Satureja montana is native to temperate areas between Europe, [4] the Mediterranean, [2] and Africa. [6] It has been naturalised in Great Britain. [6] It can be found growing in old walls, on dry banks and rocks on hillsides, [6] or rocky mountain slopes, [3] usually on calcareous [6] or alkaline soils. [4]
There is evidence of its use about 2000 years ago by the ancient Romans and Greeks. [3]
Winter savory is easy to grow and can be used as a culinary herb garden edging plant. [3] It requires six hours of sun per day and well-draining soil. [12] In temperate climates it becomes dormant in winter, putting out leaves on the bare stems in the spring. While dormant, it should not be cut back; stems which appear dead will leaf-out again. Winter savory is hardy and has a low-bunching habit.[ citation needed ]
It is hardy to USDA Zone 4 [5] and can be propagated from softwood cuttings. [4] [13] Winter savory is used as a companion plant for beans, keeping bean weevils away, and is also planted with roses to reduce mildew and aphids. [6] [12] [14]
S. montana 'Nana' is a known dwarf cultivar. [15] S. montana 'Prostrate White' is a small white flowered form. [16]
In cooking, winter savory has a reputation for going very well with both beans and meats, [17] very often lighter meats such as chicken or turkey, and can be used in stuffing. It can also be used in soups and sauces. It has a strong flavour (stronger than summer savory) [3] [18] while uncooked but loses much of its flavour with prolonged cooking. It can be added to breadcrumbs as a coating for various meats including trout. [8]
Winter savory has been purported to have antiseptic, aromatic, carminative, and digestive benefits. [6] [17] It has also been used as an expectorant, and in the treatment of bee stings [13] [19] [20] or insect bites through the use of a poultice of the leaves. [17] The plant has a stronger action than the closely related summer savory. [17]
Taken internally, it is said to be a remedy for colic and a cure for flatulence, whilst it is also used to treat gastro-enteritis, cystitis, nausea, diarrhoea, bronchial congestion, sore throat and menstrual disorders. [17]
Therapeutic-grade oil has been determined to inhibit the growth of Candida albicans . [21]
The plant is harvested when flowering in the summer and can be used fresh or dried. The essential oil is an ingredient in lotions for the scalp in cases of incipient baldness. [12] An ointment made from the plant is used externally to relieve arthritic joints. [17]
In traditional herbal medicine, summer savory was believed to be an aphrodisiac, while winter savory was believed to inhibit sexual desire (an anaphrodisiac). [7] French herbalist Maurice Messegue claimed that savory was 'the herb of happiness'. [17]
The Saturejas have been traditionally used to strew on the floor since the medieval times, as an aromatic herb that reduce insects. [22]
Chives, scientific name Allium schoenoprasum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae that produces edible leaves and flowers.
Lemon balm is a perennial herbaceous plant in the mint family and native to south-central Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, Iran, and Central Asia, but now naturalised elsewhere.
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.
Salvia rosmarinus, commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is native to the Mediterranean region, as well as Portugal and Spain. Until 2017, it was known by the scientific name Rosmarinus officinalis, now a synonym.
Satureja is a genus of aromatic plants of the family Lamiaceae, related to rosemary and thyme. It is native to North Africa, southern and southeastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. A few New World species were formerly included in Satureja, but they have all been moved to other genera. Several species are cultivated as culinary herbs called savory, and they have become established in the wild in a few places.
Savory or Savoury may refer to:
Salvia officinalis, the common sage or sage, is a perennial, evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae and native to the Mediterranean region, though it has been naturalized in many places throughout the world. It has a long history of medicinal and culinary use, and in modern times it has been used as an ornamental garden plant. The common name "sage" is also used for closely related species and cultivars.
Nicholas Culpeper was an English botanist, herbalist, physician and astrologer. His book The English Physitian is a source of pharmaceutical and herbal lore of the time, and Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick (1655) one of the most detailed works on medical astrology in Early Modern Europe. Culpeper catalogued hundreds of outdoor medicinal herbs. He scolded contemporaries for some of the methods they used in herbal medicine: "This not being pleasing, and less profitable to me, I consulted with my two brothers, Dr. Reason and Dr. Experience, and took a voyage to visit my mother Nature, by whose advice, together with the help of Dr. Diligence, I at last obtained my desire; and, being warned by Mr. Honesty, a stranger in our days, to publish it to the world, I have done it."
Artemisia absinthium, otherwise known as common wormwood, is a species of Artemisia native to North Africa and temperate regions of Eurasia, and widely naturalized in Canada and the northern United States. It is grown as an ornamental plant and is used as an ingredient in the spirit absinthe and some other alcoholic beverages.
Dysphania ambrosioides, formerly Chenopodium ambrosioides, known as epazote, Jesuit's tea, Mexican tea or wormseed, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to the Americas.
Za'atar is a Levantine 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, and other spices. As a family of related Levantine 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.
Summer savory is among the best known of the savory genus. It is an annual, but otherwise is similar in use and flavor to the perennial winter savory. It is used more often than winter savory, which has a slightly more bitter flavor.
Leonurus cardiaca, known as motherwort, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. Other common names include throw-wort, lion's ear, and lion's tail. Lion's tail is also a common name for Leonotis leonurus, and lion's ear, a common name for Leonotis nepetifolia. Originally from Central Asia and southeastern Europe, it is now found worldwide, spread largely due to its use as a herbal remedy.
Tanacetum balsamita is a perennial temperate herb known as costmary, alecost, balsam herb, bible leaf, or mint geranium. A fragrant plant native to southern Europe and western Asia, it has been used over centuries for culinary, aromatic, and traditional medicine purposes.
Frangula purshiana is a species of plant in the family Rhamnaceae. It is native to western North America from southern British Columbia south to central California, and eastward to northwestern Montana.
Hyssopus officinalis or hyssop is a shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea. Due to its purported properties as an antiseptic, cough reliever, and expectorant, it has been used in traditional herbal medicine.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to herbs and spices:
Satureja thymbra, commonly known as savory of Crete, whorled savory, pink savory, and Roman hyssop, is a perennial-green dwarf shrub of the family Lamiaceae, having strongly scented leaves, native to Libya, southeastern Europe from Sardinia to Turkey; Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The plant is noted for its dark-green leaves which grow on numerous, closely compacted branches, reaching a height of 20–50 cm. The plant bears pink to purple flowers that blossom between March and June.
Satureja spicigera, the creeping savory, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to northeastern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northwestern Iran. A perennial prostrate shrub, hardy in USDA zones 6 through 9, it is recommended as an edging plant for rock and herb gardens. Used as a culinary herb, both fresh and dried, its flavor is similar to winter savory, Satureja montana, as it is stronger than summer savory, Satureja hortensis.