St. John’s wort, St. John’s Wort Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family; creeping thyme
In the people, thyme is sometimes still gently called St. John’s wort. This is a perennial half-bush up to 15 cm tall. The stem of the plant is slender, woody, with ascending branches, and takes root in places. Leaves up to 15 mm long, up to 7 mm wide, oval or lanceolate, on short petioles, with glands filled with essential oil. The flowers are pinkish-purple, in false rings, forming an intermittent head-like inflorescence. Blooms depending on the place of growth from May to the end of July.
Widespread in open sandy places, steppe meadows, glades of dry pine forests in the European part of Russia and Siberia. There are isolated areas where thyme grows in the Caucasus and the Far East. A common plant in Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine (in Polissia in dry coniferous and mixed forests, on forest edges, meadows, among shrubs, on slopes). Often happens in Lithuania.
The plant is very fragrant, previously it was used as a component of fragrant fumigation in temples.
Thyme herb is used to make medicine. Raw materials are harvested during flowering, cutting off the aerial part with secateurs or a sickle. You can’t pull out a plant by the root! Even after harvesting the grass, re-harvesting is done in the same place only after two or three years. The collected raw materials are dried outdoors in the shade, spread out in a thin layer on paper or cloth. After drying, the plant is threshed, the leaves and flowers are separated, and the stems are discarded. Store the finished raw materials in a dry, ventilated room for three years.
Thyme grass contains essential oil (0.5-1.5%), the main component of which is thymol, as well as flavonoids, tannins and bitter substances, organic acids, gum, mineral salts and other substances.
Due to the content of thymol, thyme shows a bactericidal effect, in addition, it has
also anticonvulsant, sedative, wound-healing, anthelmintic and pain-relieving properties. In scientific medicine, infusions, decoctions and extracts of the aerial part are prescribed for acute and chronic diseases of the respiratory tract, bronchial asthma and tuberculosis. Plant products are also used for atony and intestinal spasms, flatulence.
In folk medicine, thyme is used for neuralgia and various neuroses. Plant infusions have a diuretic effect and help with hypertension. The combination of taking these products internally and in the form of gargles is effective for cough. Externally, thyme infusion has long been used for baths, compresses and lotions for pain in the joints, muscles and neuralgia.
Thyme products are contraindicated in diseases of the kidneys, liver, decompensation of cardiac activity and pregnancy.
The aromatic properties of the plant put it in the category of spices: ground thyme is added to dough products, used as a seasoning for meat dishes, and various drinks are flavored with it.
Thyme is also used in the perfumery industry to flavor soap.
The Virgin’s grass is one of the best honey bearers. The nectar secreted by a hundred thyme flowers contains from 2.5 to 15 mg of sugar. The honey productivity of the plant is from 40 to 180 kg per hectare. Bees collect extremely fragrant light honey from it.
Other species of this genus are also known: Marshall’s thyme (T. marschallianus), common thyme (T. vulgaris) and dimorphus (T. dimorphus) – their use is the same as that of flat thyme.
Herbal infusion. 2 tablespoons of raw materials per 500 ml of boiling water, infuse for 2 hours, filter. Take 1/2 cup 4 times a day.
Herbal infusion (external). 2 tablespoons of raw materials per 200 ml of boiling water, infuse for 2 hours, filter. For rinsing.