He also used it for internal bleeding and vomiting. The English herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654), praised thyme as a strengthener of the lungs and prescribed it for children who had whooping cough. Thyme is the first herb listed in the Holy Herb Charm recited by those with herbal cunning during the Middle Ages, and it is a feature in a recipe from 1600 that вЂњenabled one to see the FairiesвЂќ. Sprigs were included in judgesвЂ™ posies and clasped by nobility to protect themselves from disease and odour. It was also used to preserve anatomical and herbarium specimens and to protect paper from mold. Its powerful antiseptic and preservative qualities were well-known to the Egyptians, who used it for embalming. Scottish highlanders drank tea made from wild thyme for strength and courage and to prevent nightmares. Roman soldiers bathed in thyme waters to give themselves vigor.Дuring the Middle Ages, European ladies embroidered a sprig of thyme on tokens for their knights-errant.ДЄ soup recipe from 1663 recorded the use of the herb, as well as in a beer to overcome shyness. The Romans burned the plant in a belief that the fumes would repel scorpions. Pliny recommended it as an antidote for snakebites and other poisonous creatures and for headaches. Wild thyme received its botanical name from the plantвЂ™s serpentlike appearance. Its botanical designation may have been derived from the Greek word thymon, meaning вЂњcourageвЂќ as many of their traditions relate to this virtue.

To the Greeks, thyme denoted elegance and, after bathing, they would include the oil in their massage. ThymeвЂ™s fragrance has inspired poets from Virgil to Kipling and it is particularly strong on the warm, sunny hillsides of the Mediterranean. It is known as вЂњmother thymeвЂќ because of its traditional use for womenвЂ™s disorders. The aerial parts are harvested before and during flowering. There are many related species with each having a different volatile oil content. Garden thyme is the cultivated form of the wild thyme. It has square stems, small aromatic oval leaves, and spikes of bright mauve flowers. Wild thyme is a tuft-forming evergreen herb, growing to a height of only three inches. The plant is an aromatic perennial shrub of the mint family, growing to about sixteen inches in height and producing woody stems, small leaves, and pink flowers. It is now cultivated worldwide, preferring light, chalky soils. Thyme is native to the western Mediterranean and southern Italian regions, while the wild thyme is indigenous to southern Europe. Thyme oil can irritate mucous membranes so must be well diluted.There is little problem with normal cooking amounts. Do not use during pregnancy, externally or internally, as it is a uterine stimulant.

Thymus serpyllum (Wild Thyme, Mother of Thyme, Serpyllum, ShepherdвЂ™s Thyme).Thymus vulgaris (Thyme, Common thyme, Garden thyme, Tomillo, Tohmiyoxihutil ).

Mother of thyme