Thyme

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris), also called common or garden thyme, is a perennial herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae) forming low bushes 15–40 cm tall with woody bases. Stems are slender and much branched, reddish-brown at the base and green toward the tips. Leaves are very small, ovate to lanceolate, opposite, with slightly rolled margins, dark green above and paler/hairy beneath; oil glands make them intensely aromatic. Small pale-pink to purple flowers grow in whorls in the leaf axils near the tips, usually in late spring to summer; the fruit is a tiny nutlet. Native to the Mediterranean, thyme likes sun and dry, well-drained soil and is grown as a culinary and ornamental edging plant.

Thyme is widely grown and used in Europe, North America and beyond; in Vietnam it is cultivated mainly in Da Lat, Sa Pa and other cool-climate areas for fine cooking and herb gardens. Fresh or dried leaves and flowering tops are the main parts used: to season lamb, beef, fish and chicken, in sauces, stews and roasts; it is a familiar component of herbes de Provence and bouquet garni. Thyme oil is rich in thymol and carvacrol with strong antibacterial and antifungal activity, used in mouthwash, toothpaste, antiseptics and cough remedies. Thyme tea is a folk remedy for cough, catarrh and digestion. It is also a good bee plant and a drought-tolerant garden edging.