The plant has rising stems and narrow, fleshy, oil-gland-dotted green leaves that reach a length of . The pink, -long flowers are held in cone-shaped clusters at the ends of their stems in mid to late summer; they are protected by overlapping, -long, red-tinged bracts, edged in tiny hairs. In
Eurasia, a species of leafless parasitic dodder (
Cuscuta epithymum) would often attach itself to the conehead thyme (
Thymus capitatus), taking on the plant's pungency and from whence it also derived its host's Arabic name,
al-ṣaʿitrah.
Thymus capitatus is hardy from USDA Zones 7–10. In Israel, the plant
Thymus capitatus has protected status, making it a criminal offence to harvest it. ==See also==