On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 09:29:25 -0600, Katra
wrote:

Mexican Oregano

Oh dear! I wish I knew! This one bloomed about mid-summer last year and
the blooms lasted thru a good part of the fall. The blooms were trumpet
shaped and about 1 inch long, purple, and very fragrant. Fragrant of
mild Oregano. G It did not come with a species tag.

The Mexican oregano is much milder and sweeter than the Italian oregano
and I'm not too sad that after about 5 years, my old patch of Italian
Oregano is dying off. I won't kiss it sayonara yet as it's still hanging
in there and could come back, but I seldom use the stuff. I prefer the
Mexican plant or Dittany of crete.

I love technology! I went out and snapped a picture with the digicam,
re-sized it with photoshop and uploaded it to webspace for you, all in
about 5 minutes:

http://home.centurytel.net/Katraslin...canOregano.jpg

Hmmm, that looks like what I was sold as Italian oregano. What I've
seen at nurseries labeled as Mexican Oregano has a fleshy, fuzzy leaf,
and it is usually variegated.

But a quick google shows at least one plant that looks just like
yours, and at least two very different plants going by that name,
so I think I'm even more confused now.

http://www.davidscooking.com/ingredi...exoregano.html
http://www.nativesoftexas.com/moregano.html
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plan...raveolens.html
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2587/

I prefer the plant that I call Italian oregano to common or Greek
oregano . I read somewhere that it is a cross between marjoram and
oregano; but I have no idea if that's true or not.

google, google, google

Here it is:
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/orixmajoricum.htm

And this article says that oreganos have purple flowers, and marjorams
have white, which means what I have would be a marjoram.

http://www.herbsearch.com/herbofmonth/oregano.htm

Well, drat. Now I'm going to have to track down some Mexican oregano
like yours to see how the taste compares.


Oh, and if you are throwing fresh oregano on the grill, warn your
neighbors. One of mine swore up and down that I must be smoking
marihuana, not chicken breasts one time!

Penelope