Thyme belongs to the family Lamiaceae (Labiaceae). It is a spice-flavoring perennial plant with a wide range of uses. Many varieties of it are planted in flower beds; leaves harvested in summer are consumed throughout the year. In addition, it has healing properties.
Thyme: Description
Thyme and its healing properties were known in ancient times. Roman and Greek warriors took baths from the infusion of thyme. They believed that this would give them strength and energy. Then they began to use thyme in cooking as an aromatic plant. He came to Europe in the XI century.
The height of the thyme bush usually does not exceed 40 cm. It is a perennial herb. Its stem is most often located on the ground, and the leaves rise up. They are small, depending on the variety - plain or colorful, often with a light border around the edge. The shape of the leaves is round, pointed. The flowers are light pink, small, but very fragrant. They are collected in inflorescences.
Not only the flowers, but also the thyme leaves are distinguished by their pleasant aroma. For it, the plant received many popular names, each of which is common in a particular region of growth. This is thyme, lemon darling, pine forest, muhopal.
Thyme in nature is a plant that can grow in almost any region of the world, where the length of the period with a positive temperature allows the seeds to ripen. It does not require special care. In the southern regions it grows in the form of a bush, in the northern regions it is a herbaceous perennial.
Types of Thyme
Thyme has more than 3 hundred species. The main ones:
- Creeping (colchis, thyme) is an unpretentious shrub not exceeding 15 cm high. It grows, forming a fragrant carpet on glades, slopes. It has a “warm” aroma. Undemanding to soil, lighting, watering. Most often grows on sandy soils, clearings of coniferous forests. Frost resistant. There are many ornamental creeping thyme varieties that bloom from mid-June to late summer with lilac or lilac flowers. Harvest the entire terrestrial part of the plant. You can pick leaves all summer. Used for the preparation of soothing tea, the treatment of colds.
- Ordinary, with bright green small leaves and light lilac flowers collected in fragrant inflorescences. A herbaceous plant with a height of not more than 20 cm. It grows in meadows and clearings from early summer to August. It is not very frost-resistant, therefore it can freeze in a snowless winter with a sharp drop in temperature. New plants will emerge from seeds that spilled out onto the ground last summer. Propagated by division of the bush. In the composition of about 30% of the aromatic substance of thymol.
- Lemon-smelling (lemon) is a small plant that is appreciated for the lemon scent of the leaves. Created by naturally mating thyme with flea.
- Mossy with stems 1 cm high, densely intertwined, creates a fluffy carpet on the site.
Lemon-smelling thyme: description
It was discovered and described at the end of the XVI century. Not only leaves and flowers possess the aroma of lemon, but also the stem. The lemon-smelling thyme (Thymus x citriodorus (Pers.) Schreb) has a low, slightly lignified near the ground by autumn, slightly pubescent stem. It can be spreading or grow straight up. The stem is covered with small leaves up to 1 cm long and 3 mm wide on short, sturdy cuttings. Edges of leaves are bent, smooth. Flowers are located on the stem, forming an inflorescence of ears. The flower is bell-shaped, the cup is two-lipped. The size of the flower is 4 mm.
The stems of lemon-smelling thyme tolerate frosts to -18 ° C. Therefore, in most regions it needs to be covered. If this is not done, thyme will develop as an annual plant. New stems will form each year.
Varieties
Many varieties of lemon-smelling thyme have been created. Most Popular:
- Donna Valley is a popular variety whose bright green leaves are covered with yellow spots. Thyme lemon-smelling Doone Valley - the plant is low, does not reach a height of 10 cm.
- Silver Queen is a popular perennial plant, reaching a height of 20 cm. The leaves are dark green, with a white border on the side. Thyme lemon-smelling Silver Queen grows slowly. In winter it needs to be protected from frost. In the summer, cut to a bush was magnificent.
- Golden Duarf with light green leaves with yellow spots.
- Thyme lemon-smelling Bertram Anderson with light green leaves with a yellow border. Unpretentious frost-resistant grade. It grows well in the sun, but can tolerate light shading. In the shadow stretches. Not affected by pests and diseases.
Lemon-smelling thyme: planting and care
Thyme is a photophilous plant that tolerates drought. Therefore, it is planted in open areas and slopes. The soil should be light, mixed with sand. It will pass moisture well without causing stagnation of water. If the land is fertile, it grows rapidly. The height of the plants will be greater, and the lemon-smelling thyme will be more magnificent.
Care consists in removing weeds that can break through near a young plant. It is not affected by pests, therefore, chemical treatment is not carried out. Adult plants need to be trimmed every year to give them a neat appearance. This procedure will make the bush thick and beautiful.
You can transplant a lemon-smelling thyme all season of vegetation: in the spring, in the fall and even in the summer. Watering is necessary in the first year after transplanting.
Thyme propagation
Thyme is propagated by dividing the bush. Thus, you can quickly get a beautiful clearing of fragrant plants. You can use lignified cuttings of thyme lemon-smelling. Landing can be carried out in the fall or in the spring.
Propagated lemon-smelling thyme and seeds. They can be sown on the site after maturation, without loosening the soil. They will rise next year.
Garden use
The use of lemon-smelling thyme is associated with its ability to quickly form fluffy colorful carpets on the site. It is grown on separate free lawns, on alpine hills.
It can be planted next to most bulbous plants, ranging from ephemerals to lilies.
Cooking use
Most often, when preparing dishes, lemon-smelling and ordinary thyme are used.
Lemon-smelling thyme is widely used in cooking. In summer it is consumed fresh, in winter - in dried form. You can freeze the leaves for the winter. This allows you to feel the taste of summer at any time of the year. Add to the first (broths, soups) dishes, meat and fish, pastes. A few thyme leaves will make a salad of familiar vegetables much tastier and healthier. Thyme leaves are added to the cheese. They improve the taste of mushroom dishes.
The advantage of lemon-smelling thyme is that it does not lose its taste in the cooking process. Therefore, it can be thrown into the dishes even at the beginning of cooking. This differs from other types of seasonings.
Adding thyme leaves to fatty foods improves digestion and speeds up the digestion of such foods. Lemon thyme goes well with dishes of potatoes and various types of cabbage.
Thyme cannot be dispensed with when preserving tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers. Together with dill and other herbs, a sprig of thyme is placed in a jar of pickles. Dried thyme gives dishes a special flavor, adds a touch of bitterness.
Thyme leaves, added to the compote, provide an original and healthy drink. Thyme sprigs are thrown into jam during its preparation.
Original spirits are obtained by adding shoots and thyme leaves. They make them fragrant, giving a lemon flavor and aroma.
Thyme is a part of spices made for use with various dishes.
Medicinal properties of thyme
In traditional medicine, infusions, lotions, compresses, decoctions are prepared from the prepared raw materials.
The use of lemon-smelling thyme in official and folk medicine is associated with the presence in its composition of a very strong antibiotic carvacrol, which can fight Staphylococcus aureus. Thyme raw materials contain up to 2 percent of essential oils, contain thymol, linalol. They are used to combat microbes, fungi, bacteria.
For the treatment of bronchitis and diseases of the upper respiratory tract, an extract of lemon-smelling thyme is used. The beneficial properties of it are well known. User reviews indicate a marked improvement in the condition of patients with bronchitis after using the drug. It has an expectorant effect, dilutes sputum and promotes its excretion. Essential oils help soften sore areas of the larynx and throat.
Thyme infusions help in the treatment of inflammatory processes in the throat and oral cavity, if they are caused by purulent bacteria.
It contains a large number of vitamins, acids, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, selenium and other elements. Therefore, eating thyme leaves for food improves the general condition of the body. They contribute to the active secretion of gastric juice.
Thyme raw thyme helps the intestines to process fatty foods, help remove gases from the body.
Infusions from the leaves of lemon-smelling thyme help get rid of joint pain. They improve the condition of the musculoskeletal system, relieve the condition with radiculitis and other neuralgic diseases. Use pulp compresses made from fresh leaves. Mixing it with warm water, apply to a sore spot.
Neurosis is treated by adding one drop of essential oil to a teaspoon of honey and taken 3 times a day.
Use inhalation with essential oils and ethyl alcohol. They help get rid of coughs and colds.
Use decoctions of thyme leaves for skin diseases. Mix it with olive oil.
They increase pressure, improve appetite, sleep. To do this, you can use aromatic baths. 0.5 kg of raw material is steamed in several liters of water, boiled for a couple of minutes, insisted and added to the bath.
Contraindications
Thyme also has contraindications. Drugs with it should not be taken by pregnant women, people whose liver and kidneys are sick, insufficient thyroid function. Thyme is contraindicated in cardiovascular diseases: atrial fibrillation, pre-infarction state, elevated temperature. You can not use these funds for peptic ulcer.
If an overdose occurs, nausea may be felt.
Preparation and storage of raw materials
The stems and leaves of plants of the first year of life are not harvested. Raw materials are collected from the bushes of the second year. Thyme leaves, flowers and stems are dried in the fresh air, sheltered from the sun. You can do this in a room where there is good ventilation. Then lay in storage. To prevent the essential oils from evaporating, they store raw materials in sealed glass jars and foil packaging.
When harvesting raw materials, thyme leaves are not crushed, otherwise the amount of essential oils will be significantly reduced. This will manifest itself in the absence of smell.
When the thyme raw material dries, its weight decreases, and the amount of essential oils remains approximately the same. Therefore, in dry raw materials they are three times more than in fresh ones. When adding it to various dishes, take this into account. Dried and chopped leaves need to take three times more than fresh.