Folk Medicine

Latin name: Serpylli herba

Usable parts: Anything above the ground when flowering3

Harvest period: July to September

Constituents: Essential oils, thymol, pinenes, carvacrol, tannins, flavonoids, bitter substances, vitamins, minerals3

Action: Expectorant, antiseptic, diaphoretic, diuretic3

Application: A tea made from the dried herb serves as an excellent remedy for coughs and bronchitis. After being left to brew for ten minutes, its expectorant action as a tea helps bring relief. As a tincture it is used to treat external complaints such as bruises, sprains, and headaches. As a syrup made with its flowers, it can make a refreshing beverage on hot summer days.

Risk of misidentification: Origanum vulgare

Tips for Domestic Cultivation

Closely related to garden thyme, the slightly less flavoursome wild thyme can also be used as a spice. Wild thyme has the same soil and habitat requirements as its cousin, and once transferred from the wild, it can be replanted almost anywhere.

Home Use / Recipe Idea

Wild thyme liqueur

Fill a screw-top glass jar halfway with the fresh herb and pour high-proof alcohol over it. After leaving for a week in semi-shade, the brew is filtered and brought to the desired alcohol level using sugar water.


3 “Die Kräuter in meinem Garten” by Siegrid Hirsch & Felix Grünberger; 22nd Edition; Freya Verlag Gmbh