Wild thyme

the herb of wild thyme (Thymi serpylli herba)

Wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum) is a low perennial that spreads in mats, with small fragrant leaves and pinkish violet flowers which the bees visit. It grows in dry meadows, on rocky slopes and at the edges of woods, on sunny and poor soil.

The flowering herb is gathered, that is the shoot tips with their flowers, in the morning in dry weather, in June and July. It is cut with shears and never pulled up, because the roots are shallow and the mat is destroyed. It is dried in the shade, in a thin layer, at a temperature of up to thirty-five degrees.

It is told from garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris) by its creeping growth and milder scent, and the two must not be treated as one and the same without question. In Ašič's collection it appears in Chest Tea, in the NočSIT and MenoSIT blends and in several others.

Use and evidence

The traditional use of the herb for a cough is documented, but this review did not directly verify a positive EMA monograph for a particular preparation of the species Thymus serpyllum. Claims about tuberculosis and whooping cough are too broad.