Flora of Israel: Micromeria fruticosa

Micromeria fruticosa, Micromeria serpyllifolia, White micromeria, White savory, White-leaved savory, Tea Hyssop,

Hebrew: זוטה לבנה, Arabic: عشب الشاي

Scientific name:   Micromeria fruticosa (L.) Druce
Synonym name:   Micromeria serpyllifolia (M.Bieb.) Boiss.
Common name:   White micromeria, White savory, White-leaved savory, Tea Hyssop
Hebrew name:   zuta levana, זוטה לבנה
Arabic name:   ashab a-shai, عشب الشاي
Family:   Labiatae / Lamiaceae, שפתניים


Location: Ramat Hanadiv (“heights of the benefactor”)
Life form:   Chamaephyte
Stems:   40-70 cm; erect, minutely whitish-velutinous; branches divaricate
Leaves:   Opposite, lanceolate to ovate-orbicular; entire margin
Inflorescence:   Verticillasters with 10-30 flowers, lax, greatly exceeding subtending leaves
Flowers:   Calyx, obovoid-tubular, villous in throat; corolla, White
Fruits / pods:   Nutlets obtuse
Flowering Period:   February, March, April, May, June
Habitat:   Hard rock outcrops
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Location: Ramat Hanadiv (“heights of the benefactor”)

Derivation of the botanical name:

Micromeria, mikros (Greek), “small”, meris, “a part”; the flowers of these low-growing herbs and sub-shrubs are very small.

fruticosa, frutex (Latin), “a shrub”, therefore, shrubby, bushy.
serpyllifolia, with leaves like Thymus serpyllum.
The Hebrew name: זוטה, zuta, a small thing, trifle.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Druce is used to indicate George Claridge Druce (1850 – 1932), an English botanist and a Mayor of Oxford.
  • The standard author abbreviation M.Bieb. is used to indicate Friedrich August Marschall von Bieberstein (1768 – 1826), a German explorer.
  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885),a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.

Micromeria fruticosa, a native herb, the leaves are used for tea.

See the list of Medicinal herbs in Israel, the parts used and their medical uses to treat various diseases.