The species of the genus Origanum L. are strongly aromatic perennial herbs and subshrubs. The Origanum species have many morphological and chemical varieties. Carvacrol, thymol, linalool, and p-cymene are some of their abundant chemical components. Origanum species are widely used as tea and herbs in folk medicine. They have antispasmodic, antimicrobial, expectorant, antioxidant, anticholinesterase, and carminative effects. (Başer and Kırımer, 2006;Yılmaz et al., 2017). Therefore, the use of Origanum plants is very common as tea, as additives to foods, and in traditional remedies for the treatment of infectious diseases and the prevention of cancer and gastrointestinal system diseases (Marrelli et al., 2010).The genus Origanum (Lamiaceae, subfamily: Nepetoideae, tribe: Mentheae, subtribe: Menthineae) comprises 43 species (51 taxa) and 15 hybrids worldwide (Ietswaart, 1980(Ietswaart, , 1982. The species are mainly concentrated in the temperate regions of the Mediterranean area. Twenty-three species (26 taxa), 8 hybrids, and one suspected species have been recorded in Turkey, which has the most species. Twenty of those are endemic (Ietswaart, 1982;Davis et al., 1988;Duman, 2000). The species are classified into eight sections: Sect. Amaracus (Gleditsch) Vogel ( 4species), Sect. Anatolicon Ietsw. (2 species), Sect. Breviflamnetum Ietsw. (7 species), Sect. Longitubus Ietsw. (1 species), Sect. Chilocalyx (Briq.) Ietsw. (3 species), Sect. Majorana (Mill.) Benth. (3 species), Sect. Origanum (1 species, 4 taxa), and Sect. Prolaticorolla Ietsw. (1 species).Origanum dictamnus L., indicated as a suspected species in the Flora of Turkey, belongs to the section Amaracus. To date, O. dictamnus has only been recorded from Crete, where it is considered endemic. An unflowered specimen from Aydın-Priene (Fors-Maj. 665) was collected and identified as O. dictamnus in the Flora of Turkey (Ietswaart, 1980(Ietswaart, , 1982. This specimen (from Aydın-Priene) was different from O. dictamnus in respect to the unbranched indumentum. However, although this specimen did not have flowers, it was reported that this specimen did not, in fact, belong to O. dictamnus (Ietswaart, 1980(Ietswaart, , 1982. Based on this note stated in the Flora of Turkey and the Eastern Aegean Islands, in order to collect new materials, a field trip was made to the environs of Priene, an ancient city on the Dilek Peninsula/Kuşadası (Figure 1). Despite covetable specimens not being collected from Priene, some

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Two new hybrids of Origanum, O. ×malyeri and O. ×sevcaniae, are described and illustrated in detail. The general morphology, pollen and chromosome features, and nuclear (ITS) and chloroplast (rpl32) genomes of collected specimens were studied. Origanum ×malyeri is a hybrid between O. boissieri and O. vulgare subsp. hirtum and O. ×sevcaniae is another hybrid between O. vulgare subsp. hirtum and O. vogelii. These two new hybrids have some morphological intermediate characters between their parents. The pollen morphology of O. ×sevcaniae and its parents were studied and documented in detail using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). O. ×sevcaniae pollen is small to medium (P=18.49–21.03 µm, E=22.20–26.63 µm), suboblate (73%) to oblate (22%), the range of P/E ratio is from 0.73 to 0.85. Pollen grains are hexacolpate with granular membranes. Pollen grains were identified as bireticulate exine ornamentation with scanning electron microscopy examinations. The somatic chromosome number of O. boissieri, O. vulgare subsp. hirtum, O. vogelii, and O. ×sevcaniae were counted as 2n = 30. Pollen characters and somatic chromosome numbers of O. ×malyeri could not be examined because it has only female flowers and has not any nutlets. Also, according to molecular results, O. ×malyeri and O. ×sevcaniae have some polymorphic nucleotide regions in their nuclear ITS genomes and which means they have two different DNA dataset belonging to their parents. Also, some individuals of O. ×sevcaniae parents have single nucleotide polymorphism, too. These individuals live together with their hybrids and hybridization is probably a continuing process in that hybrid swarms. These present results support previous reports for the speciation of Origanum members via hybridization.

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