Hyssopus officinalis
Hyssop ( Hyssopus officinalis)
Hyssop ( Hyssopus officinalis), also bees herb Duftisoppe, Real hyssop, vervain, Eisop, Esope, Gewürzysop, Heisop, Hisopo, Hizopf, Ibsche, hyssop, ispEN, vinegar herb or Josef herb called, is a subshrub from the mint family ( Lamiaceae). The name derives from the Hebrew אֵזוֹב hyssop ( ' ésóv ) for, sacred herb ' from. The plant is cultivated as a spice and medicinal plant since the 16th century.
Features
Hyssop is a perennial to 60 cm high, or a dwarf shrub. He has numerous erect, rarely prostrate, branched, dull brown branches with peeling bark. The leaves are arranged opposite and seemingly ever- lively on short shoots. They are sessile or nearly sessile, to 50 mm long and 10 mm wide. Their shape is blunt or short acuminate, they are entire, glabrous to hairy shaggy and densely covered on the top and bottom with oil glands.
The five petals are colored bright blue or purple, rarely white or pink. 4 to 16 flowers are terminal in einseitswendigen Scheinquirlen, united aged men inflorescences. The bracts are linear, taper to a point and are not awned or have awns with a length of 1 to 3 mm. The calyx is often purple, Roehrig, 15 - annoying and hairy hairless or downy. The calyx teeth are equal to 3 mm long and with or without awn. The corolla is up to 12 mm long, funnel- shaped, two-lipped. The upper lip is erect and emarginate, lower lip protruding long and dreilippig with a large ausgerandeten middle lobe. There are 4 outstanding and spreading stamens present. The stamens are white or purple. The ovary is upper constant. The stylus is longer than the stamens. The approximately 2 mm long nutlets are brown and smooth, they become mucilaginous when wet.
The flowering period is from July to October.
Occurrence
Hyssop grows wild in front in South, Südmittel and Eastern Europe. In some places it is overgrown from the culture and naturalized, he is regarded in Germany as a naturalized neophyte.
The species colonized dry hills and slopes, rock heathens and roadsides; while she prefers calcareous and dry soil and a sunny location.
Use
Young leaves are added chopped in salads and vegetables. There, the hyssop should always be used sparingly because of its strong seasoning action. In the kitchen he is only freshly prepared, as hyssop very lose during drying of flavor. He is also part of the Chartreuse. Hyssop also used in perfumery.
Nicholas Culpeper noticed hyssop: It helps to ringing in the ears, difficulty breathing, and toothache. The fresh herb, crushed with sugar, helps with fresh wounds and cuts.
Ingredients
Hyssop is rich in essential oils, especially pinocamphone, camphor and pinene. In addition, can be more bitter substances found (among other things Marubiin ) and tannins and flavonoids.
Hyssop in the literature
The one in the Bible repeatedly mentioned hyssop (Num 19:18 EU, Hebrew: Esov; Jn 19,29 EU) can not be equated with Hyssopus officinalis, which does not grow in Israel. Rather is in Scripture a marjoram or oregano kind, but belonging to the same family as Hyssopus officinalis. Accordingly, this includes today sometimes called " Biblical hyssop " sold the spice " Zaatar " said mixture.