| Wild Thyme
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| Thymus serpyllum L. | ||||||||||||||
Wild Thyme or Creeping Thyme (Thymus serpyllum) is a species of thyme native to most of Europe and North Africa. It is a low, usually prostrate subshrub growing to 2 cm tall with creeping stems up to 10 cm long, with oval evergreen leaves 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 plant.
Uses
It is a source of oil of Serpolet by distillation, and is used in herbal medicine. The dried leaves are used for an herbal tea throughout Europe and the States.
It is an important nectar source plant for honeybees as well as the large blue butterfly which feeds exclusively on wild thyme. All thyme species are nectar sources, but wild thyme covers large areas of droughty, rocky soils in southern Europe. Croatia, Greece, North Africa, Malta, the Berkshire Mountains and Catskill Mountains of the northeastern United States, and New Zealand are especially famous for wild thyme honey. See also: Monofloral honey