The many cultivars include 'Argenteus' (silver thyme). įrench, German and English varieties vary by leaf shape and colour and essential oils. Numerous cultivars and hybrids have been developed for ornamental purposes. The Latin specific epithet vulgaris means “common” in the sense of “widespread”. It is slightly spicier than oregano and sweeter than sage.Ī shoot of a common thyme plant in the wild ( Castelltallat)

It is also the main source of thyme as an ingredient in cooking and as a herbal medicine. It is useful in the garden as groundcover, where it can be short-lived, but is easily propagated from cuttings. Growing to 15–30 cm (6–12 in) tall by 40 cm (16 in) wide, it is a bushy, woody-based evergreen subshrub with small, highly aromatic, grey-green leaves and clusters of purple or pink flowers in early summer. Thymus vulgaris ( common thyme, German thyme, garden thyme or just thyme) is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to southern Europe from the western Mediterranean to southern Italy.

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