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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Wild Thyme
| status =

secure
| image = Thymus serpyllum1.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Lamiales]]
| familia = [[Lamiaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Thyme|Thymus]]''
| species = '''''T. serpyllum'''''
| binomial = ''Thymus serpyllum''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|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]] [[leaf|leaves]] 3-8 mm long. The strongly scented [[flower]]s 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 [[honeybee]]s 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 [[soil]]s 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]]

==External links==

* [http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/t/thywil17.html 'A Modern Herbal' (Grieves, 1931)]

{{Commons|Thymus serpyllum}}

{{Unreferenced|date=March 2007}}

[[Category:Lamiaceae]]
[[Category:Herbs]]
[[Category:Flora of Europe]]
[[Category:Flora of Estonia]]
[[Category:Flora of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]


{{vegetable-stub}}
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