In the south of France, Wild Thyme is a symbol of extreme Republicanism, tufts of it being sent with the summons to a Republican meeting. It was an emblem of activity, bravery and energy, and in the days of chivalry it was the custom for ladies to embroider a bee hovering over a sprig of Thyme on the scarves they presented to their knights. Lady Northcote (in The Herb Garden) says that among the Greeks, Thyme denoted graceful elegance 'to smell of Thyme' was an expression of praise, applied to those whose style was admirable. The antiseptic properties of Thyme were fully recognized in classic times, there being a reference in Virgil's Georgics to its use as a fumigator, and Pliny tells us that, when burnt, it puts to flight all venomous creatures. Others derive the name from the Greek word thumus, signifying courage, the plant being held in ancient and mediaeval days to be a great source of invigoration, its cordial qualities inspiring courage. The name Thyme, in its Greek form, was first given to the plant by the Greeks as a derivative of a word which meant 'to fumigate,' either because they used it as incense, for its balsamic odour, or because it was taken as a type of all sweet-smelling herbs. This and other varieties of Thyme, including the Caraway Thyme, which was used to rub the baron of beef, before it was roasted, and so came to be called 'Herbe Baronne,' are all worth cultivating. Kitchener, in The Cook's Oracle, describes as a delicious herb that deserves to be better known. There is a variety, also, called the Orange Thyme, which Dr. Another variety, the Silver Thyme, is the hardiest of all and has perhaps the best flavour. It is of a more trailing habit and of still smaller growth than the common Garden Thyme, and keeps its foliage better in the winter, though is generally considered to be not as hardy as the common Thyme. The fragrant Lemon Thyme, likewise grown in gardens, has a lemon flavour, and rather broader leaves than the ordinary Garden Thyme, is not recurved at the margins, and ranks as a variety of T. There are three varieties usually grown for use, the broad-leaved, narrow-leaved and variegated: the narrow-leaved, with small, greyish-green leaves, is more aromatic than the broad-leaved, and is also known as Winter or German Thyme. The fragrance of its leaves is due to an essential oil, which gives it its flavouring value for culinary purposes, and is also the source of its medicinal properties. The plant has an agreeable aromatic smell and a warm pungent taste. to the quart: they retain their germinating power for three years.

The seeds are roundish and very small, about 170,000 to the ounce, and 24 OZ. The corolla consists of a tube about the length of the calyx, spreading at the top into two lips of a pale purple colour, the upper lip erect or turned back and notched at the end, the under lip longer and divided into three segments.

The calyx is tubular, striated, closed at the mouth with small hairs and divided into two lips, the uppermost cut into three teeth and the lower into two. The flowers terminate the branches in whorls. The leaves are small, only about 1/8 inch long and 1/16 inch broad, narrow and elliptical, greenish-grey in colour, reflexed at the margins, and set in pairs upon very small foot-stalks. The stems are numerous, round, hard, branched, and usually from 4 to 8 inches high, when of the largest growth scarcely attaining a foot in height.

vulgaris is a perennial with a woody, fibrous root. It was certainly commonly cultivated in England before the middle of the sixteenth century, and is figured and described by Gerard. It is cultivated now in most countries with temperate climates, though we do not know at what period it was first introduced into northern countries. The Garden Thyme is an 'improved' cultivated form of the Wild Thyme of the mountains of Spain and other European countries bordering on the Mediterranean, flourishing also in Asia Minor, Algeria and Tunis, and is a near relation to our own Wild Thyme ( Thymus serpyllum), which has broader leaves (the margins not reflexed as in the Garden Thyme) and a weaker odour. Medicinal Action and Uses -Synonym-Common Thyme.Thyme, Garden Botanical: Thymus Vulgaris (LINN.)

Wild thyme extract