Deciduous subshrub; stems to 30 cm long, ascending, hairless or slightly hairy. Leaves 15 mm long, cordate, tip blunt, more or less hairless, leathery, waxy-blue with major, curving, conspicuous lateral veins. Flower spikes to 25 mm long and wide, globose to cylindrical, nodding. Bracts 15 mm long, round, often wider than long, yellowish green, tinged pink, hairless. Calyx 2-lipped, upper lip 3-lobed, lower lip shorter, 2-lobed. Corolla 13 mm long, white or pink, 2-lipped for about a fifth of its length, upper lip shortly 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed. Upper pair of stamens to 10 mm long, strongly protruding; lower pair to 2 mm long, enclosed.
Mountains of NE Turkey, Caucasus
Cordate, almost hairless leaves and large round bracts in nodding flower spikes.
Source: (2002). Origanum. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
