Thymus serpyllum

Family / Families: Lamiaceae
Scientific Name(s): Thymus serpyllum L.
Location(s): Italy (cultivated)
Entry Author(s): Daniel Mosquin
Copyright Holder(s): douneika@Flickr aka Stefano
Image Permissions: Please contact the copyright holder for permission to use.
Photographer(s) Appreciation: A thank you to douneika@Flickr aka Stefano of Italy for sharing this photograph of Thymus serpyllum via the Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Pool.
Tags: Lamiaceae, Lamiales, named by Linnaeus, via Flickr

Inflorescences of Thymus serpyllum

Wild thyme or creeping thyme is a subshrub or short-statured shrub native to Europe and perhaps western Asian and northern Africa; the range information on the IUCN Red List for Thymus serpyllum is contradictory. This species is not typically a culinary thyme (which is most often Thymus vulgaris).

The primary modern use of Thymus serpyllum is likely as an ornamental groundcover, particularly in gardens where bees are encouraged. However, it is harvested in eastern Europe for its chemical compounds (from the IUCN link above):

The drug Serpylli herba is derived from the essential oil and is mainly gathered from wild growing plants in Bulgaria…It has lower essential oil content than common thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and is used mostly for preparing herbal baths and pillows and the essential oil to make toothpastes, mouthwash and other toiletries. Since 2003, the flowering aerial parts have been included in the European Pharmacopeia for use as an antiseptic, expectorant and antispasmodic for treatment of whooping cough, bronchitis and gastrointestinal disorders.

Un Mondo Ecosostenibile has gathered a long list of preparations of Thymus serpyllum (though it also cautions they are for informational purposes only).

Although not at-risk throughout most of its range, in some places it does have an assessed conservation status. For example, in Britain (where it is called Breckland thyme due to its restricted range in Breckland), the species is considered Near Threatened due to the sandy-soiled heathlands it requires being converted from sheep pasture to forestry plantations or agriculture. This apparently is an instance where increased grazing by sheep and rabbits benefits a native species; with rabbit populations rebounding and a return to sheep-farming in some areas, the bare ground needed for germination and growth has returned (source: Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora – Thymus serpyllum: click on the “Other Accounts” tab).