Conehead thyme

Wild thyme turns Malta’s hills purple, and bees make it into a famous honey that may even have given the island its name.

A low, densely branched dwarf shrub with tiny, fleshy, strongly aromatic leaves. In early summer it is covered in pinkish-purple flowers gathered in rounded heads at the tips of the shoots. It grows on dry, stony slopes and limestone plateaus, forming the characteristic garrigue. It contains an oil rich in carvacrol, so it is used as a culinary herb and a medicinal plant.

Significance in the country

Thyme honey from sagħtar is Malta’s most prized honey; one theory derives the island’s ancient name, Melite, from the Greek word meli – honey.

Where it grows

Common on uncultivated limestone ground throughout the archipelago, especially on the plateaus and cliffs of western Malta and on Gozo and Comino.

More: Wikipedia (en)