Wild Thyme is a very small undershrub. The flowers are a purplish rose colour. The tiny leaves are hard and sometimes hairy. The plant forms an aromatic tuft or mat. The plant grows in sunny dry places, usually, but not always, near the coast; it is not found in Tyrone or Carlow. There are cultivated varieties for the garden: 'Albus' with white flowers, the shell-pink 'Connie Hall', the crimson 'Coccineus' and others.
Flowering time is from June to August.
It is native to western Europe from Norway to north-west Spain.