Common name:
Large thyme
Family:
Scientific name:
Thymus pulegioides
Main flower color:
Range:
South and southeast England
Height:
Up to 20 cm
Habitat:
Dry, calcareous grassland (especially chalk)
Flowers:
The corolla is pink, two-lipped, with the lower lip divided into three equal-sized lobes, and sparsely hairy on the outside. Stamens are exserted. The calyx also has two lips, the upper with three teeth, the lower with two. Flowers form in closely-spaced whorls, at the top of the square stems, which have long hairs only along the angles
Leaves:
Opposite, ovate, up to 10 mm long, on short stalks, with a few long hairs along the edges. Sometimes slightly folded up along the midvein
Season:
June to August
Rarity:
★★★★★