Mediterranean Wild Thyme / زحيف / زعتر فارسي / زعتمان /

الحاشا / الزعتر الفارسي / الزعتر الفرنجي / الصعتر البري / زعتر العسل / صعتر الحمير /

Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav.

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Edibility and usage

Edibility
Delicious
Edible part
  • Leaves
Preparation
  • Herbal tea
  • Pickled
  • Za'tar mix
Blooming period
May to October
Foraging period
April to July
Seed collection period
August to October
Potential medicinal uses
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Aromatic
  • Carminative
  • Nervine
  • Sedative
  • Tonic
  • Vulnerary

Description

Perenniality
Perennial
Petal colour
  • Crimson
  • Pink
Leaf type
  • Entire
Life form
  • Chamaephyte

Scientifc data

Genus
Thymbra
Family
Lamiaceae
Wikidata item
Q1302761
GBIF Item
Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav. (5607804)
Conservation status (IUCN)
Least concern

References

  1. Tesdell, Imseeh, O., Othman, A., Othman, Y., Dowani, Y., Shqeirat, R., Bamieh, Y., Tesdell, E., Khouri, S. (2018). Palestinian Wild food plants. Ramallah: Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (English and Arabic).
  2. Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav. in GBIF Secretariat (2021). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2022-03-22.
  3. Ali-Shtayeh, Mohammed S., Rana M. Jamous, Jehan H. Al-Shafie’, Wafa’ A. Elgharabah, Fatemah A. Kherfan, Kifayeh H. Qarariah, Isra’ S. Khdair, et al. “Traditional Knowledge of Wild Edible Plants Used in Palestine (Northern West Bank): A Comparative Study.”
  4. Zohary, Michael. Flora Palaestina. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1972.
  5. Hinnawi, Nadeen Sadeq Abdullah. “An Ethnobotanical Study of Wild Edible Plants in the Northern West Bank,” 2010.
  6. Licata, Mario, Teresa Tuttolomondo, Claudio Leto, Giuseppe Virga, Giuseppe Bonsangue, Ignazio Cammalleri, Maria Gennaro, and Salvatore La Bella. “A Survey of Wild Plant Species for Food Use in Sicily (Italy).” Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 12
  7. عراف، ش.،عمر،ر.،مخول، س.(1999).مساهمة في دراسة نباتات البلاد(الحلقة الثانية).ترشيحا:مركز الدراسات القروية.(عربي)

Citation

Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav. in Barari platform (2026). Barari Flora Taxonomy. https://barari.org/species/646 accessed via barari.org on 2/19/2026.

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