Spanish lemon thyme

Thymus baeticus, the Spanish lemon thyme or tomillo de Cádiz, is an aromatic dwarf subshrub in the family Lamiaceae growing 15–50 cm tall on usually erect, finely pubescent woody-based stems. Its small linear to linear-lanceolate leaves, 4–7 mm long and 0.6–2 mm wide, have strongly revolute margins and a coating of short hairs, giving the foliage a grey-green appearance and a characteristic resinous, slightly lemony fragrance when crushed. From May to June the plant bears dense, head-like terminal inflorescences of small two-lipped cream-white to pale-pink flowers. It is endemic to southern Spain, where it occurs chiefly in the provinces of Cádiz and the Sierra de Grazalema, growing in open thickets and rocky pastures on a wide range of substrates including limestone, dolomite, sandy and stony soils, gypsum, sandstone, slate and shale, at elevations of 30–1,300 m. Like other Mediterranean thymes it is harvested locally as a culinary and aromatic herb, although it has no specific recorded Western herbal tradition distinct from common thyme.