Origanum is a herb that owes its name to a pleasant and rather strong aroma. The people call it differently: bee-lover, motherboard, bone-breaking grass, wild chabrik, wind color, winch, darling …
Origanum prefers to grow in places open to the sun, that is, in glades, on the slopes of mountains and beams, along roadsides. It occurs both in single bushes and in whole groups, even thickets.
Origanum herb: botanical characteristics
This is a perennial herbaceous plant. It sometimes reaches a meter in height, but on average it extends only up to 60 cm. Oregano has a branched rhizome and several straight, pubescent stems with four edges emanating from it. Oblong leaves are held on short petioles, arranged oppositely. The flowers are small and may be purple or reddish. There are a lot of them, they are all collected in ears that form shields.
This is how oregano herb looks like. The photo perfectly shows how many corymbs form a large panicle-like inflorescence. Oregano fruits are rounded nuts. They mature inSeptember, after the plant has faded (which does not last long - only 25 days, or even 15).
Oregano herb: use in herbal medicine
Herbal preparations based on it are widely used in modern medicine. They are recommended for colds, choking, coughs, pulmonary tuberculosis and other diseases of the respiratory system as a means of promoting sputum separation, expectoration and relieving inflammation. Also, oregano herb is effective for intestinal atony, with some gastritis.
It is part of the collection for gargling. Oregano herb is also used externally: lotions, baths and compresses are made from its decoction for diathesis and skin diseases accompanied by pustular sores. This plant is also useful for problems with the kidneys, blood pressure, liver. True, it also has contraindications. It is undesirable that oregano is used in the treatment of men, as it causes impotence and swelling of the mammary glands. This plant is categorically contraindicated during pregnancy: at an early stage, it provokes a miscarriage.
Oregano herb: use in alternative medicine
Here its use is even wider. In addition to the diseases listed above, among the people, oregano grass is used to treat joints, headaches, insomnia, and gynecological problems. Previously, oil was obtained from its seeds and rubbed on the body with rheumatism and paralysis. Its fresh flowers were recommended to be chewed and kept in the mouth for about five minutes for toothache. In a dry and crushed form, they are inhaled into the nostrils withrunny nose. With abscesses, boils, compresses are made from crushed and steamed with boiling water grass. With diathesis, scrofula and other rashes for children, a decoction of oregano is added to baths. Often in this case it is used in combination with a string. If you wash your head with an infusion of oregano in the evening, it will not only save you from pain and insomnia, but also promote hair growth. In cosmetology, medicinal masks are prepared from the plant. It is crushed, natural honey or egg yolk is added and applied to the face for 10 minutes. You need to wash off the mask with lotion. After the procedure, the face must be lubricated with some kind of nourishing cream. Such a mask often cannot be applied, because the coloring property of oregano will darken the skin.
