771101a Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus (Durand) Jalas
Distribution
Northern Iceland: Frequent
Western Greenland: Scattered
Eastern Greenland: Rare
Southern Arcti Tundra: Rare
Shrub Tundra: Frequent
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Frequent
- Jalas, Veröff. Geobot. Inst. ETH Stiftung Rübel Zürich 43: 190 (1970). - Thymus serpyllum var. arcticus Durand in Kane, Arct. Explor. 1853-55, App. 18: 459 (1856). Described from Greenland. - Thymus arcticus (Durand) Ronniger, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 20: 331, 237 (1924).
- ?Thymus drucei Ronniger, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 20: 328 (1924). Described from Scotland. No specimens cited.
- ?Thymus britannicus Ronniger, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 20: 330 (1924). Described from the Channel Islands to Scotland and Shetland. No specimens cited. - ?Thymus praecox subsp. britannicus (Ronniger) Holub, Preslia 45: 359 (1973). - ?Thymus polytrichus subsp. britannicus (Ronniger) Kerguélen, Lejeunia, n. s., 120: 175 (1987).
2n=
50-56 54 (7-8x, x = 7?). - Europe (NW), Greenland. - Several reports, numerous counts.
Geography: Amphi-Atlantic (E): ICE GRL.
Notes: Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus is the only taxon of the family Lamiaceae with a significant part of its range in the Arctic. If considered a subspecies, there are conflicting opinions both about to which species it should be assigned - T. praecox Opiz 1824 or T. polytrichus A. Kerner 1890 - and about its correct name as a subspecies. If considered a species, we are not sure which of Ronniger's (1924) names - T. drucei, T. arcticus, or T. britannicus (all published in the same work) - should have priority for the arctic plants. The question is whether the British and arctic plants are the same. The name "arcticus" seems to have priority before "britannicus" at rank of subspecies but Kent (1992) synonymized them under the latter name. Provisionally, we have kept to the traditional Nordic and Greenlandic usage. This plant is restricted to the British Isles, western Norway (non-arctic), Iceland (where it is extremely common into the arctic parts), and the southern half of Greenland.
Higher Taxa
- Thymus praecox [771101,species]