Thymbra capitata

Bräuchler, Christian, 2018, Delimitation and revision of the genus Thymbra (Lamiaceae), Phytotaxa 369 (1), pp. 15-27 : 18

2. Thymbra capitata (L.) Cavanilles (1803: 37), Figures 2. a–c

≡ Coridothymus capitatus (L.) Rchb.f., Oesterr. Bot. Wochenbl. 6: 161 (1857).

≡ Origanum capitatum (L.) Kuntze (1891: 528).

≡ Satureja capitata L., Sp. Pl.: 568 (1753)

≡ Thymus capitatus (L.) Hoffmannsegg & Link (1809: 123).

≡ Thymus creticus Brotero (1804: 174) , nom. illeg.

Type: PORTUGAL. Thymus creticus off., Satureja mat. med. […] Lisboa vulgaris [Loefling] (lectotype, designated by Siddiqi (1985: 90), LINN 723.11!)

Distribution: Mediterranean Basin, Portugal; the most widespread species of the genus.

Note: Brotero (1804: 175) gives “in collibus calcareis de Alcantara prope Olisiponem, et prope Sacellum S. Luciae circa Conimbricam, et alibi in Lusitania meridionali” as localities for his Thymus creticus . I was not able to trace authentic specimens, but since he cites the earlier legitimate Satureja capitata L. in the synonymy, his name is illegitimate anyway.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Representative specimens of Thymbra species; scale bar = 10 mm;-a) T.capitata, branch of a wild plant (Kattari SK07/Pel046, TUM),-b) inflorescence of T. capitata (Kattari SK07/Pel046, TUM);-c) inflorescence of a cultivated plant of T. capitata (Bräuchler 2526, TUM), note the narrower bracts compared to the wild plant, that are however never as long and narrow as in T. spicata;-d) inflorescence of a cultivated plant of T. spicata subsp. spicata (Bräuchler 4548, TUM).