Herb
Origanum majorana
A tier
Origanum majorana is the botanical sweet marjoram—the species of knotted marjoram sold for kitchen use. Chemistry leans toward milder terpenes than high-carvacrol Greek oregano. Specify the binomial when ordering seed for true sweet marjoram rather than oregano mislabelled as marjoram.
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Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
CookingDriedFreshSeed Order True Type
Traits
Knotted BudsMildMild SavourySpecies StandardSpecies TrueSweetTrue Sweet Species
History
Linnaeus placed sweet marjoram as Origanum majorana.
Horticulture standardised O. majorana as garden sweet marjoram.
Seed trade used the binomial to separate marjoram from oregano types.
Culinary growers still order O. majorana for authentic sweet marjoram.