''Thymus serpyllum'', known by the common names of Breckland thyme, Breckland wild thyme, wild thyme, creeping thyme, or elfin thyme, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the mint

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Lamiaceae,

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to most of Europe and North Africa. It is a low, usually prostrate

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

growing to tall with creeping stems up to long. The oval

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are 3–8 mm long. The strongly scented

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are either lilac, pink-purple, magenta, or a rare white, all 4–6 mm long and produced in clusters. The hardy plant tolerates some pedestrian traffic and produces odors ranging from heavily herbal to lightly lemon, depending on the variety.

Description

Wild thyme is a creeping dwarf evergreen shrub with woody stems and a taproot. It forms matlike plants that root from the nodes of the squarish, limp stems. The leaves are in opposite pairs, nearly stalkless, with linear elliptic round-tipped blades and untoothed margins. The plant sends up erect flowering shoots in summer. The usually pink or mauve flowers have a tube-like calyx and an irregular straight-tubed, hairy corolla. The upper petal is notched and the lower one is larger than the two lateral petals and has three flattened lobes which form a lip. Each flower has four projecting stamens and two fused carpels. The fruit is a dry, four-chambered

schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the m ...

Distribution and habitat

Wild thyme is native to the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

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 is one of the plants on which both the common blue butterfly and

large blue butterfly The large blue (''Phengaris arion'') is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first defined in 1758 and first recorded in Great Britain, Britain in 1795. In 1979 the species became mostly extinct in Britain but has be ...

larvae feed and it is also attractive to bees.

Chemistry

The oils of ''T. serpyllum'' contain

thymol Thymol (also known as 2-isopropyl-5-methylphenol, IPMP), , is a natural monoterpenoid phenol derivative of ''p''-Cymene, isomeric with carvacrol, found in oil of thyme, and extracted from ''Thymus vulgaris'' (common thyme), ajwain, and vario ...

carvacrol Carvacrol, or cymophenol, C6H3(CH3)(OH)C3H7, is a monoterpenoid phenol. It has a characteristic pungent, warm odor of oregano. Natural occurrence Carvacrol is present in the essential oil of ''Origanum vulgare'' (oregano), oil of thyme, oil ob ...

limonene Limonene is a colorless liquid aliphatic hydrocarbon classified as a cyclic monoterpene, and is the major component in the oil of citrus fruit peels. The -isomer, occurring more commonly in nature as the fragrance of oranges, is a flavoring ag ...

, paracymene,

gamma-terpinene The terpinenes are a group of isomeric hydrocarbons that are classified as monoterpenes. They each have the same molecular formula and carbon framework, but they differ in the position of carbon-carbon double bonds. α-Terpinene has been isolat ...

and

beta-caryophyllene Caryophyllene (), more formally (−)-β-caryophyllene, (BCP), is a natural bicyclic sesquiterpene that is a constituent of many essential oils, especially clove oil, the oil from the stems and flowers of '' Syzygium aromaticum'' (cloves), the es ...

Cultivation

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 Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acceptance in other ...

low to moderate foot traffic areas due to its tolerance for low water and poor soils. Numerous

cultivars A cultivar is a type of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and when Plant propagation, propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and st ...

have been produced, of which 'Pink Chintz' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. A miniature creeping form is 'Elfin'.

Gallery

Image:Thymus serpyllum flowering plants.jpg Image:Thymus serp 1.jpg Image:Базаихский разрез, Thymus serpyllum.jpg Image:Thymus aa1.jpg Image:Thymus serpyllum1.jpg Image:Wilder Thymian.jpg Image:Thymus serpyllum var albus1.jpg, var. albus Image:Thymus serpyllum var albus2.jpg, var. albus File:Creeping red thyme.jpg, ''Thymus serpyllum coccineus'' File:Wild Thyme, Thymus serpyllum.JPG, Wild thyme in the

UBC Botanical Garden UBC Botanical Garden, at the University of British Columbia, was established in 1916 under the directorship of John Davidson, British Columbia's first provincial botanist. It is the oldest botanical garden at a university in Canada. The garden me ...

Illustrations

Image:Illustration Thymus serpyllum0 clean.jpg Image:Thymus_serpyllum_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-138.jpg Image:Thymus serpyllum Sturm57.jpg Image:Thymus serpyllum backtimjan1.JPG Image:Thymus serpyllum backtimjan2.jpg Caterpillar food plants
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References

External links

World Checklist

* {{Authority control Flora of France Garden plants of Europe Groundcovers Herbs Flora of Denmark Flora of Estonia Flora of Finland Flora of Germany Flora of Latvia Flora of Lithuania Flora of Norway Flora of Russia Flora of the United Kingdom Medicinal plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus serpyllum Subshrubs