Caraway Thyme
Growth habit
Herbaceous
Perennation
Long-lived polycarpic perennial
Native distribution
Corsica and Sardinia
Location
Source of plant
Garden Place, Sandy Mush Herb Nursery
Description
Plant forming a broad, low mound 15-20 cm tall, stems woody, holotrichous or imperfectly allelotrichous, with hairs denser on opposite faces, hairs very short; flowering stems erect or ascending; sterile shootsdistinct, usually lateral, long, stiff, arching or decumbent with long internodes. Leaves shortly petiolate, lanceolate, narrowly elliptic or obovate, 5-9 mm long, 1.5-3.0 mm wide, acute, attenuate or cuneate, subglabrous, glandular-dotted, lateral veins not prominent; margin flat, ciliate at base. Inflorescence subcapitate, lax, occasionally the lowermost verticillasters remote, ca. 1.5 cm in diameter; bracts similar to leaves. Calyx 3-5 mm long, tube cylindrical-campanulate, hairy on the ventral side; upper teeth lanceolate, ca. 1.5 mm long, irregularly ciliate; lower teeth narrowly subulate, ca. 2.5 mm long, ciliate. Corolla rose-purple, but color of varying intensity depending on the age of the flower, hermaphroditic 6-7 mm long, female 4.5-5.5 mm, tube usually included. Blooming period early to late June, the female plants often flowering about one week later.
USDA Hardiness Zone
5
Special characteristics
fragrance, growth habit