Thyme is a small perennial shrub that grows 4-12 inches in height with slender, wiry, and spreading branches. It has small green-grey evergreen leaves and violet colored flowers. Thyme prefers dry chalky soil and tolerates drought once it is established. It thrives in full sun, but also tolerates partial shade.

Thyme is a Mediterranean herb with dietary, medicinal, and ornamental uses. The flowers, leaves, and oil of thyme have been used to treat a range of symptoms and complaints.

Thyme is a small low-growing shrub and is commonly cultivated as an annual, though it can persist as an evergreen perennial in warm climates. The stems are somewhat woody and bear simple leaves that are oval to linear and arranged oppositely. The tiny tubular flowers are borne in whorls along the stems and are typically purple or white in colour. Bees are attracted to the flowers, and the thyme honey of Sicily has been famous for hundreds of years.