Medicinal herb and spice oregano is one of the major export products for Turkey as a plant material and has been generally used for protection from microbial and fungal activities in folk medicine in the South Anatolia. Origanum species are naturally growing in the uncultivated areas and mountains, arid, sunny, rarely humid, valley and road edges. For this study, four endemic Origanum L. (Lamiaceae) species were collected, namely O. saccatum, O. hypericifolium, O. leptacladum and O. husnucan-baserii. The chemical and physical analysis was carried out on soil samples collected from 14 localities in the study area. All species prefer neutral soils with pH between 6.60 and 7.42. However, the soil of the four species varies regarding their chemical constituents. Each can survive on non-calcareous, little, medium and high calcareous soils and live on sandy-loamy, loamy, sandy soils in structure, rich soils in phosphorus and potassium, little or medium soil in organic matter.
Key words: Origanum, soil, ecology, Turkey
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