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Micromeria glomerata
Also called Tenerifan Cliff Thyme, Thyme Of Taganana
A rare, endemic subshrub from the cliffs of northeast Tenerife, grown as a rock-border ornamental and aromatic herb. It needs sun, sharp drainage and little water, as it grows in rock crevices in the wild.
Micromeria glomerata, known locally as cliff thyme (Spanish: tomillo de risco) or thyme of Taganana, is a species of plant with woody chameleophyte flowers, belonging to the Lamiaceae family. It is a species endemic to the northeast of the Canary Island of Tenerife, whose description was first made in 1974, thanks to botanist Pedro Luis Pérez de Paz. It is a medicinal and aromatic plant with pink-purple flowers that grows at low altitude in the crevices of the slopes of the protected area of the Anaga Rural Park, located in the massif of the same name. The flexible, puberulose stem and with internodes can reach 10 to 40 centimeters in height. On the other hand, the leaves are small and flat, 8 mm long by 6 mm wide.11
In 1991, R. H. Willemse confused it with what he believed to be a new species, so he gave it the name of Satureja anagae, although this was eventually rejected.
Micromeria glomerata is endemic to the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, Spain. It grows at an altitude of between 300 and 485 meters, in the protected area of the Anaga Rural Park, located in Macizo de Anaga, near Taganana. In 2004, about 490 specimens were counted, divided into two subpopulations with a tendency to increase. One of the endemic subpopulations has 460 individuals, the next has less than 30.
This plant is of commercial interest as a rock border ornament, and is also used as an aromatic plant for its culinary qualities. Its use as a medicinal plant may have contributed to its rarification, although this is more uncertain than for Micromeria rivas-martinezii.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Micromeria glomerata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
