Thymus thracicus Velenovský (1892: 16)

Bartolucci, Fabrizio & Mráz, Patrik, 2016, A new combination in the genus Thymus and clarification on the type material of Th. thracicus (Lamiaceae), Phytotaxa 263 (2), pp. 161-164 : 163

Thymus thracicus Velenovský (1892: 16)

Type (lectotype designated by Jalas 1971b: 265, its herbarium placement is corrected here):— [ BULGARIA]. Ad Stanimaka , June 1891, Stříbrný V. s.n. (W No. 1991-0001745 [digital image!]; image of the lectotype is available at http://herbarium.univie.ac.at/database/ detail.php?ID=159084) .

Note:—The name Thymus thracicus Velen. was lectotypified by Jalas (1971b) and as a type he choose the above mentioned specimen collected by V. Stříbrný and determined / labeled by J. Velenovský. As a herbarium where the lectotype specimen had been kept, Jalas cited the herbarium of the Charles University in Prague ( PRC)—the institution where J. Velenovský was Professor of Botany and where his herbarium has always been preserved. However, when searching for this specimen in PRC for the purposes of this contribution, we were not able to find it. Surprisingly, the specimen was retraced in the Herbarium of Natural History Museum in Wien (W). The specimen under the accession number W1991-0001745 perfectly fits the protologue data, the indications by Jalas (1971b), and his revision label bearing his lectotype annotation from 1969. The explanation why the lectotype specimen is no more in PRC but in W is as follows. In the fall 1967 a huge parcel consisting of 1976 specimens of the genus Thymus from PRC was sent on loan to J. Jalas (Herbarium at the University of Helsinky, H). In the 70s of the last century the loan returned to Prague, but apparently not complete (unfortunately, there is no receipt documentation in PRC). Importantly, in fairly the same periode (1971–1993) a huge amount of Thymus material from W was on loan by J. Jalas in Helsinki for his treatment of Flora Iranica. Unfortunately, as in the case of the loan from PR, the checking of the received material in W did not work well. Thus, the number of missing / supernumerary specimens was completely unclear (E. Vitek, in e-mail). Therefore, we suppose that the most plausible explanation of the misplacement of the lectotype of Th. thracicus is that this specimen was accidently sent from H to W instead of PRC and the specimen was subsequently incorporated into W. This explanation is furthermore supported by the erroneous shipment of several specimens of Thymus (the material of Rechinger fil.) from H to PRC, though the loan was originally from G. Moreover, all original material to the Thymus taxa described by J. Velenovský could be find in PRC ( Štěpánek 2006 –2010), but the specimens to three names— Th. thracicus , Th. skorpilii Velenovský (1902: 53) and Th. striatus Vahl (1794: 78) var. pindicus Velenovský (1906: 286) . In addition to the lectotype of Th. thracicus , also the lectotype of Th. skorpilii is currently kept in W (W1991-0001748, digital image seen at http://jacq.nhm-wien.ac.at/djatoka/jacq-viewer/viewer.html?rft_id=w_1991000174 8&identifiers=w_19910001748). Based on these facts the herbarium citation of the Th. thracicus lectotype is to be corrected, and now it is housed in W (No. 1991-0001745).