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Oregano

Origanum vulgare (oh-rih-GAY-num vul-GAR-ay)

Family: Lamiaceae Unknown Herbaceous

Flavoring for tomato dishes, meat, poultry, and pork stuffings; vegetables, sauces, etc. Flowers have a pungent, spicy flavor, but are milder than the leaves. The flowers attract a tremendous number of visitors and pollinators. VIDEO Created by Laura Barth for "Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Nuts," a plant identification course developed in partnership with Longwood Gardens. More information on Origanum .

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗ Reconciled to full toolbox: matched by slug to slug 'origanum-vulgare'. Identity (id/common/scientific name) preserved from the original 87-plant Hunnicutt set; attribute data refreshed from the 25-attribute toolbox scrape.

How it fits the guild

Guild layer 4 - Herbaceous
See companions & conflicts ↓

Companions & Conflicts

Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.

No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.

Also noted by NC State

Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.

Often confused with Origanum majorana

Full plant profile

Growing Conditions
Plant type
Edible; Herb; Herbaceous Perennial
Soil drainage
Good Drainage
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Cascading; Horizontal; Spreading
Leaf value
Edible; Fragrant
Hairs present
No
Flower value
Edible; Fragrant
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Unknown
Attracts
Bees; Butterflies; Moths; Pollinators
Play value
Attracts Pollinators; Easy to Grow
Food & Medicine
Edible parts
Leaves; Flowers

Edibility

Leaves and flowers for tea, flavoring

Landscape Use
Landscape theme
Edible Garden; Pollinator Garden; Rock Garden
Garden tags
#HS302 #vhfn #vhfn-h #herb garden #herb #edible #pollinator garden #pollinator plant #culinary #butterfly friendly #moth friendly #bee friendly #th-taste #th-sowing #th-sight #th-wildlife
Problems & Resistance
Resistant to
Deer; Diseases; Drought; Dry Soil; Foot Traffic; Heat; Insect Pests; Rabbits; Slugs
Propagation
Division; Leaf Cutting; Root Cutting; Seed

Planted at Hunnicutt

Nobody’s planted this one yet.