Non-aromatic shrub to over 0.5 m tall with a fleshy, tuberous base, branches dying back after flowering. Leaves ovate to almost round, 2-6 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, margins more or less round-toothed with 4-12 pairs of teeth; stalk to 5 cm long. Flowers to about 1 cm long, pale blue to violet; year round.

Qld, NSW, Vic, E Malesia and Polynesia

Most plants referred to P. australis belong here.

 

This species is very similar to P. graveolens R. Br. (which has 10-20 pairs of teeth) and P. suaveolens S.T. Blake. (which has densely hairy, not sparsely hairy leaf blades).

Source: Lumley, P. (2002). Origanum. In: Spencer, R.. 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.