By Jill Henderson
Fall in my neck of the woods is a treasure trove of wild edible and medicinal plants. It is a veritable fantasyland for wild foragers and herbalists. Some of the best fare include wild mushrooms, hickory nuts, black walnuts, and the ugly but ever so sweet American persimmon. Even a short walk through field and forest will fill the attentive forager’s basket overflowing. One of my favorite fall activities is stalking the wild oregano, otherwise known as American dittany (Cunila origanoides). This incredible edible is often overlooked by foragers and herbalists because of its small size and sparse growth habit. But don’t let appearances fool you. Wild oregano is an exceptional culinary seasoning and a powerful medicinal herb as well.
Identification in the Wild
Wild oregano is a herbaceous perennial that is very closely related to garden oregano (Origanum vulgare), as well as other cultivated herbs belonging to the mint family such as marjoram (Origanum marjorana), dittany of Crete (Origanum dictamnus), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), winter and summer savory (Satureja spp.), and bee balm (Monarda spp.).
Although wild oregano resembles and smells very much like true oregano, it has a much more intense aroma and taste, and a very different growth habit than its cultivated cousins. Unlike culinary oregano, which has slightly fuzzy leaves and a sprawling, creeping nature, wild oregano grows upright to slightly prostrate, has smooth, bright green, teardrop-shaped leaves, and seldom grows more than ten to twelve inches tall. In fact, wild oregano is often so small and unassuming that it is completely overlooked by almost all who encounter it. Yet wild oregano can be found growing in dry, rocky woods and clearings from the far reaches of the Northeast all the way to southern Florida and the western portions of Texas, Oklahoma, and the northern Midwest—basically the entire eastern half of North America.
Because of its diminutive size and sparsely spaced leaves, wild oregano is often difficult to spot against a backdrop of forest leaf litter. A good time to look for wild oregano is in early spring when the newly emerging leaves are temporarily deep-purple in color, or in late summer when it bears a number of soft, round inflorescences of impossibly small, clear-purple flowers born at the leaf axils. One sure-fire way to identify this pungent herb is by its spicy, oregano-like aroma, which many foragers smell long before they get a glimpse of the actual plant. In fact, there is no other native North American plant that smells and tastes as strongly of true oregano, than wild oregano. So if you smell oregano, slow down and look for a very unassuming herb hugging the ground.
Good and Good for You
Much like its herbaceous cousin oregano, the summer leaves of dittany are wonderfully fragrant and spicy, and can be used fresh or dried as a seasoning for food and as a delicate hot tea on cold winter nights.
Because of its close family ties to numerous medicinal and culinary herbs, wild oregano is a naturally powerful healer containing phytochemicals such as thymol, limonine, and carvacrol. These scientifically proven medicinal compounds have traditionally been used to inhibit or destroy food-borne pathogens such as giardia, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, salmonella, and staphylococcus.
Like most mint family members, wild oregano also has the ability to soothe the effects of poor digestion, including gas, bloating, upset stomach, abdominal cramps, and heartburn. A simple tea taken by the cupful as needed will do wonders to ease digestive upset. Like true oregano, the essential oil of this native herb has the potential to ease rheumatic and muscular pain when applied topically.
Wild oregano is also a strong infection fighter that can be used to treat respiratory and sinus congestion and other related infections. The healing properties found in the “oreganos” have long been employed to treat coughs, tonsillitis, bronchitis, asthma, and even emphysema.
Like true oregano, wild oregano also has strong antifungal properties that are well-suited for eliminating fungal infections such as athlete’s foot, jock itch, and nail fungus. Wild oregano can also be used externally to speed the healing and prevention of infection in minor wounds, and to soothe the pain and reduce the itching of bites, stings, and rashes. One warning to those who would use this herb for medicinal purposes: wild oregano and all of its culinary relatives contain phytoprogesterones. In medicinal doses, these plant hormones might induce menstruation (or labor), and should not be used by those who are or who may become pregnant.
A Wild Beauty in the Garden
Because of its delicate beauty and usefulness, wild oregano is more than a welcome addition to any perennial garden. It can be transplanted from the wild (but only from private lands where the plant is abundant) or started by seed sown in the fall. When given full sun to partial shade and average, well-drained soil, wild oregano will easily grow into a very attractive sub-shrub with a rounded or mounding habit that is perfect for any perennial flower border.
If all that goodness doesn’t tempt you into stalking the wild oregano, you might be very intrigued to learn that this one little herb is among a mere handful of plants in the entire world that produces one of nature’s most elusive and ephemeral winter blossoms.
Wild regano is also known as a frost flower because it blooms most spectacularly in the winter. Many a frost flower fan admit to discovering their very first frost flower quite by accident—often while walking the dog, feeding livestock, or fetching the mail early on a cold winter morning. Usually, their eye is caught by a brilliantly white and luminescent object amidst an otherwise drab landscape. When they move in for a closer look they find an improbably delicate sculpture made of long, thin, striated ribbons of curled and contorted ice of extraordinary complexity and fragility. And when touched even lightly, they quickly find out that the fragile flower simply crumbles to bits.
While researchers are still studying the exact mechanics of the formation of frost flowers, the basic premise is quite simple. Very cold temperatures cause water within the main stem or under the bark to freeze. It starts when water within the stem becomes super-cold, and slowly ice crystals begin to form. As the icy slush expands, the stem becomes fractured. As the slush leaves the stem through these fractures and hits the freezing air, the slush freezes solid. In this slow and methodical way, layer upon layer of translucent, striated, and contorted ribbons of ice are created. Some frost flowers are very small—less than an inch in diameter. But many, and especially the first ones of the season, can be five or six inches in diameter. And like a snowflake, no two frost flowers are ever the same.
It is not yet known exactly how many plants in the world have the ability to generate frost flowers, but at present the list is very small. In North America we are blessed with three: wild oregano/American dittany (Cunila origanoides), white crownbeard (Verbesina virginica), and frostweed or rock rose (Helianthemum canadense).
The occurrence of frost flowers is hard to time with any precision. However, when the weather suddenly turns to freezing and there has been a relatively good amount of moisture preceding the temperature change, chances are good for spotting one of these rare beauties. Early morning hikes in open woodland or woodland edges and clearings are best for hunting elusive frost flowers. Set out early, for the moment the sun glances off their icy surface these fleeting flowers return to the earth from where they came. Such transitory and rare beauty is what I love about living so closely with nature.
As a gardener, herbalist, wild forager, and lover of good food it is no wonder that wild oregano tops my list of favorite native herbs. And even though I have my own little patch growing just outside my back door, I never tire of stalking the wild oregano in the out of the way places it calls home.
Happy foraging!
Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and world traveler with a penchant for wild edible and medicinal plants, culinary herbs, and nature ecology. She has written three books: The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs: Growing and Using Nature’s Remedies, A Journey of Seasons: A Year in the Ozarks High Country, and The Garden Seed Saving Guide: Seed Saving for Everyone.
A lifelong organic gardener and seed saver with a passion for sustainable agriculture and local food production, Jill presents workshops to teach gardeners about the detrimental impacts of bio-engineered food crops and how to grow and save open-pollinated and heirloom seeds. Jill also writes and edits Show Me Oz (ShowMeOz.wordpress.com), a weekly blog filled with gardening and seed-saving tips, homesteading wisdom, edible and medicinal plants, nature, and more. She is a regular contributor to Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac, Acres USA, and the Permaculture Activist.
In her spare time, Jill is a professional artist specializing in custom pet portraits and wildlife art. You can view some of her work at ForeverPetPortraits.wordpress.com. Jill and her husband, Dean, live and work in the heart of the rugged Ozark Mountains.