Hyssop

Hyssopus officinalis

Lamiaceae

A blue-spike Mediterranean bitter for the chest — a bee plant with a camphor edge.

Mediterranean subshrub. Culinary-bitter. Not the biblical plant (that was probably a different herb).

Parts used: Flowering tops
Traditional notes: Wet cough folklore · Bitter before meals · Bee forage
Grow · USDA 6b: Perennial, USDA 4–9 Cuttings or plants. Seed is easy too. In work: Jun · Jul · Aug
Harvest: Spikes as they blue.

Bake it. Hyssop in shade is floppy and mild.
Shear after bloom for a tight mound.
Do not confuse with Agastache (anise hyssop) — different flavor, different plant.

Safety

Pregnancy in medicinal tea amounts Seizure disorder (oil)

Companions

Plant with Grape.

Lore

Purge me with hyssop, says the psalm, which may have been a different plant. Garden hyssop is a Mediterranean blue spike, a bee plant, and a bitter for the chest in the old books.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.