Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) · Herb Profile

At a glance

Botanical name: Thymus vulgaris
Family: Lamiaceae
Part used: Leaf, Flower
Taste: Pungent, Bitter
Temperature: Warm
Moisture: Dry

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Culinary safe

While breastfeeding

Culinary use excellent; avoid high medicinal doses of essential oil during breastfeeding.

For children

Culinary safe; widely used as children's cough herb

Cautions

High dose essential oil — avoid internally; thyroid caution with high dose

General contraindications

Culinary safe; avoid large therapeutic doses

Stewardship

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) is Mediterranean cultivated; easy garden perennial. Multiple chemotypes (thymol, linalool, carvacrol) affect medicinal use. Stewardship: the kitchen thyme is also strong medicine — 'oregano of the poor' — food-as-medicine fundamental.

In the traditional record

Thyme — Thymus referenced in ancient Greece for fumigation of temples; used in Egyptian embalming; referenced by Theophrastus (370 BCE)

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Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.