Cut leaf mint bush
Great all round shrub!
also known as Native Thyme, this native mint can be used as a medicinal herb, but now more commonly features in cooking and herbal teas. It’s a highly aromatic shrub, rich in essential oils, giving off a minty aroma when crushed or rubbed. This plant is found throughout NSW along the coastline, in sheltered rainforest margins, beneath sclerophyll forest trees, and around the Central Tablelands.
Native Thyme boasts a more complex flavour than Mentha mints. With hints of pepper and earthy tones, it makes a great flavoursome herb for chicken, fish, emu, roo and lamb dishes. Both the leaves and flowers have minty qualities, and may be steeped in hot water to make a herbal tisane.
To harvest, just pluck fresh leaves off the growing plant, or prune whole stalks at a time. Both leaf and stem may be used — fresh, or chopped and grows up to 2m, and has a proliferation of purple flowers in spring.
