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Plant Story

By Gardens of Gold · 6 min read · Guides & Stories

The Story of Thyme

Common thyme is a low Mediterranean shrub of the mint family, with tiny aromatic leaves that hold flavor in the pan. Kew maps southwestern Europe and southeastern Italy; GRIN also lists Morocco as native — those maps stay separate.

Thyme sprig with small oval leaves on reddish stems against a plain background (wiki plant photo).
A thyme sprig.

Common, English, or garden thyme is Thymus vulgaris. Lemon thyme and caraway thyme are different binomials on UC Marin’s page.

How it was found

Kew maps Thymus vulgaris as southwestern Europe and southeastern Italy. Native list: Balearic Islands, France, Italy, Spain. Introduced into Algeria, Belgium, Canary Islands, Cuba, Czechia-Slovakia, Dominican Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Haiti, Ireland, Leeward Islands, New Zealand South, Puerto Rico, and Switzerland.

USDA GRIN native: Morocco; Italy (southeast); Spain (including Balearics); France (south and Corsica); widely cultivated.

UC Marin and UCCE SLO call it a Mediterranean native / from the Mediterranean region.

How people used it

Kew lists food. UC Marin: leaves and flowers edible; withstands cooking without losing flavor; used with sauces, meat, fowl, fish, seafood, and stuffing; one of the ingredients in herbs de Provence. UCCE SLO: tiny aromatic leaves used dry and fresh in stuffing, soups, seafood, and vegetable dishes. UC Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County: thyme is a popular seasoning in omelets, poultry dishes, stocks, stews, and salad dressings. USDA GRIN economic uses include food-additive flavoring and essential oils.

Kew lists medicine and poison uses. GRIN lists thyme as a source of the pharmaceutical agent thymol.

Timeline

  1. Greek (etymology)

    Named for smoke

    UCCE SLO Master Gardeners write that the name thymus is derived from the Greek word for smoke or fumigate.

    UCCE SLO Master Gardeners — Thyme

  2. 1753

    Named in Species Plantarum

    Kew accepts Thymus vulgaris L., first published in Sp. Pl.: 591 (1753). USDA GRIN: Sp. pl. 2:591. 1753. That is common thyme, not lemon thyme.

    Kew POWO; USDA GRIN

  3. Present

    Herbs de Provence

    UC Marin Master Gardeners: Mediterranean native sometimes called common or English thyme; culinary use of leaves and flowers; thyme is one of the ingredients in herbs de Provence. The blend is use, not a wild-origin date.

    UC Marin Master Gardeners — Thyme

Cool to know

A low mint-family shrub

UCCE SLO: a low-growing shrubby perennial of the mint family from the Mediterranean region; leaves used dry and fresh.

UCCE SLO Master Gardeners

Lemon thyme is another plant

UC Marin lists lemon thyme as Thymus citriodorus and caraway thyme as Thymus herbabarona.

UC Marin Master Gardeners

Many kitchen names, one species

USDA GRIN common names include thyme, common thyme, English thyme, and garden thyme; economic uses include flavoring and essential oils.

USDA GRIN

Hundreds of types, English in the kitchen

UC Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County: there are over three hundred varieties of thyme, but English thyme is the one most commonly grown for culinary use; French thyme has a similar, slightly milder taste.

UC Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County — Thyme

French thyme, a little sweeter

UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County: common thyme (vulgaris), sometimes called English or garden thyme, has a robust flavor that makes it one of the most popular types of thyme for culinary use; T. vulgaris ‘French’ is said to be slightly sweeter and milder than the plain species.

UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County — Thyme

Growing notes for this plant live on the Plant Wiki.

Want thyme in a San Diego pot? See the easy-herbs guide for keeping culinary thyme going here. Get a quote or write yourgardenofgold@gmail.com.

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