Broad-leaved thyme
Thymus pulegioides
Family · Lamiaceae · Harmless
The thyme of the north and the mountains, not a stiff limestone subshrub but a creeping meadow herb, with larger green leaves and a fresh thyme-and-lemon scent.
Uplands · Fields and pasture · Roadsides and waste ground · Oak woods
Also known aslarge thyme, lemon thyme
How to tell it
Creeping stems rising at the tips, four-angled and hairy only on the ridges, which separates this species from others in the genus. Oval, flat, green leaves, larger than common thyme's. Dense heads of purple-pink flowers at the top. A fresh clean scent when rubbed.
What it is confused with
Pennyroyal
Mentha pulegium
Both creep, both have pink whorled flowers and both smell good. Pennyroyal smells of mint and grows in waterlogged soil; thyme smells of thyme and grows in dry meadow. It matters because pennyroyal contains pulegone and is not a harmless infusion, especially in pregnancy.
What it is for
A traditional seasoning and infusion across Europe, with the same uses as common thyme and a milder taste. Gather by cutting the flowering tips and never pulling, because it is a creeper and one pulled handful takes half the mat.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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