Hyssop
Growth habit
Shrub
Perennation
Long-lived polycarpic perennial
Native distribution
Southern and Eastern Europe
Biocultural value
Hyssop leaves and flowers contain marrubin, an expectorant. Leaf tea helps to lower fevers by inducing perspiration. A traditional folk remedy for colds and flu. The leaves and flowers contain marrubin, an expectorant. The bitter tasting tea helps to lower fevers by inducing perspiration. The essential oil distilled from the leaves and flowers is used to flavor Chartruese-type liqueurs and bitters. It is blended with other fragrances in perfumes.
Location
Source of plant
Nichols Garden Nursery, Pinetree Garden Seeds, Richters, Thompson & Morgan, Cornell Botanic Gardens
Description
Subshrub or suffrutescent perennial; aromatic. Stems 18" to 24", hairless to very hairy; leaveslinear-lanceolate to elliptic lanceolate, 3/4" to 1 1/2" long, and 5/8" wide, short-petioled; verticillasters 6- to many-flowered; calyx tubular, to 5/16" long, corolla 1/2" long, deep bluish-violet, or, in cultivars, white, rose or red. A variable species.
USDA Hardiness Zone
6
Special characteristics
fragrance, medicinal/pharmaceutical, other ethnobotanical uses