Wild Thyme

Common Name: Wild Thyme

Latin Name: Thymus polytrichus

Family: Lamiaceae

Wild thyme is a low evergreen shrub with a rambling growth form. The plant is known for supporting insects and attracts bees and butterflies. The leaves of wild thyme contain the volatile oil thymol which has antiseptic and preservative qualities. The herb has also been used to flavour foods although is not as strongly flavoured as the cultivated thyme (T. vulgaris) which is one of Britain’s best-known and most widely used culinary herbs. The essential oil gathered from thyme plants is widely used to scent soaps and perfumes.

In the Yorkshire Dales National Park the plant grows on limestone rocks, limestone pavement, roadside verges and on short, dry, and generally calcareous grassland, to an altitude above 400m. In mid-summer a thick carpet of wild thyme can create an aroma that is reminiscent of the Mediterranean.