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Thymus serpyllum
Also called Creeping thyme, Wild thyme, Breckland Garden, Mother Of Thyme, Breckland Wild Thyme, Hillwort, Lemon Thyme
Breckland thyme (Thymus serpyllum) is a low, creeping evergreen subshrub, about 10 cm tall, with strongly scented lilac to pink flowers in summer. It thrives in full sun and sharply drained, poor soil, and it tolerates light foot traffic.
Thymus serpyllum, known by the common names of Breckland thyme, Breckland wild thyme, wild thyme, creeping thyme, or elfin thyme, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is a low, usually prostrate subshrub forming creeping stems up to 10 cm (4 in) tall. The oval evergreen leaves are up to 8 mm. The strongly scented flowers are either lilac, pink-purple, or magenta, are up to 6 mm long and produced in clusters.
The species is native to most of Europe and North Africa. The hardy plant tolerates some pedestrian traffic and produces odors ranging from heavily herbal to lightly lemon, depending on the variety.
Creeping and mounding variants of T. serpyllum are used as border plants and ground cover around gardens and stone paths. It may also be used to replace a bluegrass lawn to xeriscape low to moderate foot traffic areas due to its tolerance for low water and poor soils.
Creeping thyme has also been used to "upholster" herb seats, similar to camomile seats, and provide a fragrant surface to sit on.
Wild thyme is native to the Palearctic realm of Europe and Asia. It is a plant of thin soils and can be found growing on sandy-soiled heaths, rocky outcrops, hills, banks, roadsides and riverside sand banks.
Wild thyme can be used as a herb much as domestic thyme, with a milder flavor.
Algerian Thyme · Wild Thyme · Spanish Lemon Thyme · Azores Thyme · Camphor Thyme · Thymus · Thymus capitellatus · Portuguese Thyme · Lemon Thyme · Thymus dubjanskyi · Caraway Thyme · Hyemalis Thyme
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Thymus serpyllum 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.
