Thymus serpyllum

Bartolucci, Fabrizio & Walter, Johannes, 2015, Typification of names in the genus Thymus (Lamiaceae), Phytotaxa 221 (2), pp. 137-147 : 144

Thymus serpyllum L. var. ligusticus Briquet in Jaccard (1895: 450)

Type (lectotype, designated here):— SWITZERLAND. rochers du Steinenthal sur Bérisal, 4 August 1893, Chenevard P. s.n. ( G barcode G 00439920! right-hand specimen).

Protologue citation:—“Hab.: moraine du glacier de Fée (Chenevard), rochers du Steinenthal sur Bérisal (Chenevard)”.

Nomenclatural notes:—Briquet described this taxon from “Montagnes de Rezzo (De Notaris herb.)” in “Les Labiées des Alpes maritimes 3”, published in September 1895 ( Briquet 1895). However, he proposed the same name also in “Observations sur quelques labiées valaisannes”, published tightly earlier in April–August 1895 (Briquet in Jaccard 1895, see Stafleu & Cowan 1979), in which he cited the book of the Maritime Alps and the exact page of Th. serpyllum var. ligusticus descripition. As Briquet validly published this variety in Jaccard some months earlier, this publication must be cited as the correct one for the name Th. serpyllum var. ligusticus . We can assume that at the time of drafting the manuscript concerning the Valais, the proof of the book of the Maritime Alps must have already existed as Briquet cited the exact page 550. In the strict sense, the specimen of De Notaris does not belong explicitly to syntypes, but still is part of the remaining original material which was used by Briquet in drafting the original description (specimen fragment is kept in W 1996-0012806!). Further syntypical original material in conserved in G (barcode G 00439919!).

Taxonomic notes:— Thymus serpyllum var. ligusticus is a heterotypic synonym of Th. praecox Opiz subsp. polytrichus (A.Kern. ex Borbás) Jalas.