Hi, I saw this today in the countryside near Ankara, Turkey. It looked like a pretty groundcover and was attracting bees, so I uprooted a bunch and planted in my garden. I don't know what it exactly is, though. Its leaves are faintly fragrant, so could be a thyme of some sort. I will be glad if anybody could identify it.

Perhaps Teucrium capitatum.

It looks like T. capitatum.

It said that T. capitatum is synonim of T. polium

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

Close up shots of Teucrium polium (Iran)

http://nargil.ir/Plant.aspx?Na...

Better still! Search for Teucrium and you will get a list of species, or go to the linked page for Teucrium.

http://www.turkiyebitkileri.co...

We have no photos of T. polium and if it's determined it is one of these (http://garden.org/plants/searc... would be a great photo for the Garden.org database. It does look like a Teucrium that I would like and would grow well here. Thanks for posting this for ID. I would love to see anything that is native to your region.

Thanks! After some research I am convinced that it is Teucrium polium. It seems that this plant is widely spread across Turkey and used in traditional herbalism.

@HamiltonSquare

Leslieray I found a place selling this plant. (Seeds for the Teucrium, not the live plant)

http://www.rareplants.es/shop/...



Edited for clarification

That place is in Spain Jean.

There's a few places in Europe selling seed but even that is a problem for the US. I found a site in the US selling seed, it says flowers are pink.

http://www.hardyplants.com/see...

ebay .. a seller in Greece ..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Teucri...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Teuc...

Yes, I know that they are in Spain. Why is it a problem, other than it is out of country? They do ship to just about every country, US included.

The US has very strict import laws on seeds, so I don't think it would be easy to bring in plants. The cost of importing even a single plant would require Phytosanitary certification from the supplier, I have bought Crinum from Thailand on ebay from a seller who includes the cost in the price which makes them quite expensive even for Thailand, government certification was on the packet and the 'in growth' Crinums were OK but had been dipped in something and were partly dried up, a cut back stem with no roots. Seeds are allowed from anywhere in the world here but not in the US. A plant would likely have to be sent bare root and certified disease free from a government department in Spain, then put into quarantine once it reached the US and checked after a certain length of time. The plant would be hugely expensive and probably dead.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aph...

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/cle...

The US has a Small Seed Lot import permit through APHIS. The permit is free, lasts for 3 years and small lots of seed do not requite CITES. (Lots under 50 seeds.)

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aph...

I did check this out before posting, as I am aware of the plant health import laws. This is the reason I searched out a company that sold the Teucrium seeds in lots of 25 or less, rather than the actual living plant. The link was posted because Leslieray mentioned an interest.

I see the site in Spain is selling seeds, you mentioned 'plant'.

The process of getting a permit is still messy. Buying on ebay 'usually' gets around this.