Cat thyme germander
Teucrium capitatum
Family · Lamiaceae · Irritating
The low whitish cushion with cream-coloured flower heads that fills the dry limestone of the interior. Covered in white felt throughout, it always looks dusted.
Scrubland · Uplands · Roadsides and waste ground · Walls and rocks
Also known asfelty germander
How to tell it
Narrow leaves with down-rolled margins, white-felted on both sides. Globe-shaped flower heads at each stem tip, cream or pinkish. As in all germanders, the flower has no upper lip.
What it is confused with
Wall germander
Teucrium chamaedrys
The leaf decides: wall germander has a green glossy leaf cut like a miniature oak; this has a narrow leaf covered in white felt.
What it is for
A bitter infusion of traditional use in the Peninsula. The same note as wall germander applies: the genus has compounds linked to liver injury with prolonged use, and it is not a plant for sustained consumption.
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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