WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

Widespread but very local in the South. Habitat includes: Dry, calcareous soils in places such as grassland, anthills etc. Other names include: Broad-leaved Thyme.

Stace 4:

Thymus pulegioides L. - Large Thyme.

Vegetative stems procumbent to ascending, rooting but not forming dense mats; flowering stems suberect to decumbent, to 25cm, acute to rigid on angles, with hairs more or less only on the 4 angles; leaves ≤12 x 6mm, usually glabrous, green; corolla pinkish-purple; 2n=28. Native; short fine turf or barish places in coarser turf on well-drained chalky or sandy soils; locally frequent in South & Central England, scattered North to South East Yorkshire, very rare and scattered and perhaps introduced in Ireland and Scotland. More robust than next 2 spp. and flowering about 1 month later in South England. The only sp. on heaths and dunes in South East England.

Key:

• Leaf margins not or scarcely revolute; leaves elliptic or elliptic-oblong to narrowly so
• Plant with procumbent stems usually rooting at nodes, without a lemon scent; fertile
• Lower internodes of flowering stems with hairs all over or nearly all on the 4 angles

Useful Links:

Naturespot

Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora

Kew

GBIF

EDIT

NBN