Breckland Thyme

Appearance

It is a low, usually prostrate subshrub growing to 2 cm tall with creeping stems up to 10 cm long. The oval evergreen leaves are 3–8 mm long. The strongly scented flowers are either lilac, pink-purple, magenta, or a rare white, all 4–6 mm long and produced in clusters. The hardy plant tolerates some pedestrian traffic and produces odors ranging from heavily herbal to lightly lemon, depending on the variety.

Wild thyme is a creeping dwarf evergreen shrub with woody stems and a taproot. It forms matlike plants that root from the nodes of the squarish, limp stems. The leaves are in opposite pairs, nearly stalkless, with linear elliptic round-tipped blades and untoothed margins. The plant sends up erect flowering shoots in summer. The usually pink or mauve flowers have a tube-like calyx and an irregular straight-tubed, hairy corolla. The upper petal is notched and the lower one is larger than the two lateral petals and has three flattened lobes which form a lip. Each flower has four projecting stamens and two fused carpels. The fruit is a dry, four-chambered schizocarp.

Naming

Synonyms
⤷  ''Cunila thymoides'' L.
⤷  ''Hedeoma thymoides'' Pers.
⤷  ''Origanum serpyllum'' Kuntze
⤷  ''Serpyllum angustifolium'' Fourr.
⤷  ''Serpyllum citriodora'' Pall.
⤷  ''Serpyllum vulgare'' Fourr.
⤷  ''Thymbra ciliata'' Ten. nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus acicularis'' Besser nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus adscendens'' Bernh. ex Link
⤷  ''Thymus affinis'' Vis.
⤷  ''Thymus albidus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus angulosus'' Dulac
⤷  ''Thymus angustifolius'' Pers. nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus angustifolius'' var. ''empetroides'' Wimm. & Grab.
⤷  ''Thymus angustifolius'' var. ''ericoides'' Wimm. & Grab.
⤷  ''Thymus angustifolius'' var. ''inolens'' Dumort.
⤷  ''Thymus angustifolius'' var. ''intermedius'' Becker
⤷  ''Thymus angustifolius'' var. ''linearifolius'' Wimm. & Grab.
⤷  ''Thymus angustifolius'' var. ''pycnotrichus'' Uechtr.
⤷  ''Thymus angustifolius'' var. ''rigidus'' Wimm. & Grab.
⤷  ''Thymus angustifolius'' var. ''silvicola'' Wimm. & Grab.
⤷  ''Thymus angustus'' Opiz ex Déségl.
⤷  ''Thymus apricus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus aureus'' auct.
⤷  ''Thymus azoricus'' Lodd. nom. inval.
⤷  ''Thymus barbatus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus beneschianus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus borbasii'' Borbás
⤷  ''Thymus caespitosus'' var. ''castriferrei'' Soó
⤷  ''Thymus calcicolus'' Schur
⤷  ''Thymus campestris'' Salisb. nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus carstiensis'' Ronniger
⤷  ''Thymus caucasicus'' Willd. ex Benth.
⤷  ''Thymus chamaedrys'' var. ''rotundifolius'' Nyman
⤷  ''Thymus ciliatus'' Lam.
⤷  ''Thymus citratus'' Dumort.
⤷  ''Thymus citriodorus ''Schreb.
⤷  ''Thymus communis'' Kitt.
⤷  ''Thymus concolor'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus dalmaticus'' var. ''carstiensis'' Velen.
⤷  ''Thymus decumbens'' Bernh. ex Rchb.
⤷  ''Thymus deflexus'' Benth.
⤷  ''Thymus elatus'' Schrad. ex Rchb.
⤷  ''Thymus ellipticus'' Heinr.Braun nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus ellipticus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus elongatus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus erioclados'' Borbás
⤷  ''Thymus exserens'' Ehrh. ex Link
⤷  ''Thymus flogellicaulis'' A.Kern.
⤷  ''Thymus gizellae'' Borbás
⤷  ''Thymus glabrescens'' Benth. nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus gratissimus'' Dufour ex Willk. & Lange
⤷  ''Thymus hackelianus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus hausmannii'' Heinr.Braun
⤷  ''Thymus hornungianus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus incanus'' Grossh. nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus incanus'' Willd. ex Benth. nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus includens'' Ehrh. ex Rchb.
⤷  ''Thymus inodorus'' Lej. nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus interruptus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus jaquetianus'' M.Debray
⤷  ''Thymus kollmunzerianus'' Opiz ex Benth.
⤷  ''Thymus kratzmannianus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus laevigatus'' Vahl
⤷  ''Thymus linearifolius'' Heinr.Braun
⤷  ''Thymus longistylus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus lucidus'' Willd.
⤷  ''Thymus macrophyllus'' Heinr.Braun
⤷  ''Thymus majoranifolius'' Desf.
⤷  ''Thymus micranthus'' Wierzb. ex Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus minutus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus muscosus'' Zaver.
⤷  ''Thymus oblongifolius'' Heinr.Braun nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus ovatus'' var. ''concolor'' Formánek
⤷  ''Thymus ovatus'' var. ''subcitratus'' Formánek
⤷  ''Thymus procerus'' Opiz ex Benth.
⤷  ''Thymus procumbens'' Benth. ex Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus pseudoserpyllum'' Rchb. ex Benth.
⤷  ''Thymus pulegioides'' var. ''jaquetianus'' Ronniger
⤷  ''Thymus pumilus'' Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.
⤷  ''Thymus pusillus'' Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.
⤷  ''Thymus pusio'' Dichtl
⤷  ''Thymus pycnotrichus'' Ronniger
⤷  ''Thymus radoi'' Borbás
⤷  ''Thymus raripilus'' Dichtl
⤷  ''Thymus reflexus'' Lej.
⤷  ''Thymus reichelianus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus repens'' Gilib. nom. inval.
⤷  ''Thymus rigidulus'' Kerguélen
⤷  ''Thymus rigidus'' Rchb. ex Besser
⤷  ''Thymus rotundifolius'' Schur nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus sanioi'' Borbás
⤷  ''Thymus serbicus'' Petrovic
⤷  ''Thymus serratus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus simplex'' Kitt.
⤷  ''Thymus spathulatus'' var. ''castriferrei'' Borbás
⤷  ''Thymus subcitratus'' Schreb.
⤷  ''Thymus subhirsutus'' Borbás & Heinr.Braun
⤷  ''Thymus variabilis'' Hoffmanns. & Link
⤷  ''Thymus villosus ''Pall. ex M.Bieb. nom. illeg.
⤷  ''Thymus wierzbickianus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Thymus wondracekianus'' Opiz
⤷  ''Ziziphora thymoides'' Roem. & Schult.

Distribution

Wild thyme is native to the palearctic zone of Europe and Asia.

Habitat

It is a plant of thin soils and can be found growing on sandy-soiled heaths, rocky outcrops, hills, banks, roadsides and riverside sand banks.
Wild thyme is one of the plants on which the large blue butterfly larvae feed and it is also attractive to bees.

Uses

For culinary and medicinal uses, see the main article on Thyme.