Scientific name Thymus vulgaris

Alias Muskgrass

Family Labiatae

Classification Perennial

Seed germination 12-20 days

Maturity 90-10 days

Flowering time Summer

Useful parts Flowers and leaves

The essential oil comes from the distillation of its flowers and leaves, and is a medium yellowish-brown color with a hint of green, and is often used in men's fragrances because of its strong herbal and piney aroma.

Flavor: Compared to other spice plants, it is much milder, rather sweet and strongly herbal. There are even poets described its scent like "dawn of heaven", and its plant is small and tender, it is hard to imagine it in the hearts of Europeans, it is a symbol of courage, the ancient Romans went to war, but also with the addition of thyme water bath, hoping to bring them courage. The species is a poisonous plant included in the China Plant Atlas database, and its toxicity is a small poison for the whole plant.

Traits Thyme is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Labiatae, the plant is small, with a height of about 20-50 centimeters, and the whole plant has an aroma and a mildly pungent flavor. The lower part of the stem is creeping and tufted, the upper part is erect, four-angled, with many branched leaves opposite, narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, about 0.7 cm long, 0.3 cm wide, grayish-green, with the margins of the leaves retrorsely curved. Flowers white-reddish, 0.2 cm in diameter, terminal in whorls. Seeds small, rounded, about 6000 in 1 g. Common varieties in Taiwan include white-flowered thyme (erect type), and red-flowered pavement incense also known as red-flowered thyme (creeping type)