746 /SWEET GALE PDR FOR HERBAL MEDICINES
almost lanceolate, cuneate at the base and more or less
serrate near the apex. They are pubescent beneath with shiny
yellow, fragrant glands on both surfaces.
Characteristics: The branches and leaves are fragrant when
bruised.
Habitat: Sweet Gale is indigenous to the higher latitudes of
the northern hemisphere.
Production: Sweet Gale is the aerial part of Myrica gale.
Other Names: Bog Myrtle. Dutch Myrtle, Bayberry
ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY
COMPOUNDS
Volatile oil (0.4-0.7%): including among others alpha-pi-
nene, delta-cadinene, gamma-cadinene, limonene, beta-myr-
cene, alpha-phellandrene. beta-phellandrene, 1,8-cineoIe,
nerolidol, p-cymene, alpha-copaene, beta-caryophyllene
Flavonoids: including myricitrin
Triterpenes: including ursolic acid, oleanolic acid
EFFECTS
Sweet Gale has an astringent and aromatic effect.
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
Unproven Uses: Sweet Gale has been used in digestive
disorders. A strong brew of dried bark is also, used in
Sweden as a vermifuge and to cure itching.
PRECAUTIONS AND ADVERSE REACTIONS
The volatile oil of the drug is considered toxic. Mixing plant
extracts with beer, as practiced in the Middle Ages, is said to
have led to manic episodes.
DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: The drug is ground. Information on
preparations is not available.
LITERATURE
Hegnauer R, Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen, Bde 1-11,
Birkhauser Verlag Basel, Boston, Berlin 1962-1997.
Kern W, List PH, Horhammer L (Hrsg.), Hagers Handbuch der
Pharmazeutischen Praxis, 4. Aufl., Bde. 1-8, Springer Verlag
Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1969.
Malteru KE, Faegri A, (1982) Acta Pharm Suec 19: 43
Roth L, Daunderer M, Kormann K, Giftpflanzen, Pflanzengifte,
- Aufl., Ecomed Fachverlag Landsberg Lech 1993.
Von Schantz M, Kapetanidis I. Qualitative und qunatitative
Untersuchung des atherischen Ols von Myrica gale L.
(Myricaceae). In: Pharm Acta Helv 46(10/11):649. 1071.
Sweet Marjoram
Origanum major ana
DESCRIPTION
Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts of the plant are the
leaves and flowers, the fresh aerial parts of the flowering
plant and the whole of the fresh, flowering plant.
Flower and Fruit: The inconspicuous, sessile flowers barely
extend above the gray tomentose bracts surrounding them.
The calyx appears to have only 1 sepal because the 2 lower
sepals are almost non-existent and the upper 3 are complete-
ly fused. The calyx is 2.5 cm long and otherwise resembles
the bracts. The corolla is white to pale lilac or pink, 4 mm
long, with a few uneven, pointed tips. The 2 upper tips are
fused together to form a lip. The stamens are enclosed in the
corolla or extend above it. The fruit is a smooth, light brown
nutlet, 0.75 to 1 mm long.
Leaves, Stem and Root: The plant is biennial with a main
shoot that is heavily branched. It grows 20 to 25 cm high.
The downy to tomentose shoots are gray-green to whitish,
and sometimes tinged with red. The leaves are spatulate,
.short-petioled, 0.5 to 2 cm long and 0.5 to 1 cm wide, entire-
margined and rounded. They are gray-tomentose on both
surfaces, somewhat thick and usually without distinct ribs.
The false whorls are mostly covered by the 3 to 4 wide,
circular, gray-green bracts, which are fused to globular,
racemous or panicled capitula.
Characteristics: The plant has a distinctive tangy odor and a
bitter taste.
Habitat: The plant is indigenous to the southeastern Mediter-
ranean region and is cultivated in Germany.
Production: Marjoram herb consists of the dried leaf and
flower of Origanum majorana (synonymous with Majorana
hortensis), gathered during the flowering season and stripped
off the stems. Drying must be fast to avoid blackening of the
leaves. Marjoram oil consists of the essential oil of
Origanum majorana obtained by aqueous steam distillation
of the fresh or dried leaves and flowers stripped from the
stems and harvested during flowering season. Depending on
the area of cultivation, there may be two crops of the aerial
plant parts per year.
ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY
COMPOUNDS: MARJORAM HERB
Chief components in the volatile oil of the foliage: cis-
sabinene hydrate (40 to 50%), cis-sabinene hydrate acetate
(20 to 30%), sabinene (10%) and trans-sabinene hydrate
(2%); cis-sabinene hydrate acetate transforms itself witfi
steam distillation into (among others) terpinene-4-ol (in
volatile oil yielded through steam distillation, 15 to 40%),
