Mastic thyme
Thymus mastichina
Family · Lamiaceae · Harmless
The most Portuguese of the thymes, the one that goes into cured olives. Round white heads on top of each stem, and a scent between eucalyptus and mint.
Scrubland · Uplands · Pine woods · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known asSpanish marjoram, wild marjoram
How to tell it
The flowers gather into a white ball at the tip, not an elongated spike. Small grey leaves, strongly aromatic when rubbed. Grows on poor dry soils, almost always alongside French lavender.
What it is confused with
Spanish thyme
Thymus zygis
They share the dry scrub and the scent. Spanish thyme has flowers in an elongated spike and smells more like kitchen thyme; mastic thyme has a round white head and smells of eucalyptus. Both edible.
What it is for
It seasons cracked olives across the southern half of the country, and goes into infusions and game dishes. Traditionally gathered while in flower.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.