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Thymus vulgaris
Thymus vulgaris 'Dorcas' White' and Thymus vulgaris 'Snow White'
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When I first went to see the thymes at Kew, I realised that the thyme known for many years
as T. richardii subsp. nitidus 'Albus', had been wrongly assigned to this
subspecies, a subspecies of T. richardii not known to be in cultivation.
This thyme grows as a compact bush with tiny narrow leaves,
whereas the subspecies of T. richardii all have a creeping habit with woody stems.
As it keys out as a cultivar of T. vulgaris it has been renamed
T. vulgaris 'Dorcas' White' and this name has been listed in the RHS Plant Finder since 1998-99.
(Dorcas was a lady of means in the Acts of the Apostles who sewed for the poor and her name now appears on a box of pins.)
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Thymus vulgaris 'Dorcas' White'
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The thyme formerly known as miniature thyme or the invalid name T. compactus albus
keys out as a cultivar of T. vulgaris.
It was given the cultivar name 'Snow White' in 1996 and is now known as T. vulgaris 'Snow White'.
It is more compact than T. vulgaris 'Dorcas' White'.
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Thymus vulgaris 'Snow White'
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Thymus vulgaris 'Golden Pins'
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There was a bushy thyme with tiny pin-like golden leaves, known as T. caespititius 'Aureus',
but this bore no resemblance to the species and there was also a similar looking golden leaved thyme,
known for many years by the invalid name T. ericoides 'Aureus'.
DNA profiles in 1997 confirmed that these two names referred to the same plant
and also that it is a cultivar of T. vulgaris.
As it is similar to T. vulgaris 'Dorcas' White', but with golden leaves, it was renamed
T. vulgaris 'Golden Pins' and this name has been listed in the RHS Plant Finder since 1998-99.
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Thymus vulgaris 'Golden Pins'
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First published in Plant Heritage 2002. Click for original article
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Thymus vulgaris 'Elsbeth'
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In 1989 Rosemary Titterington of Iden Croft Herbs first listed a large bushy thyme as T. rotundifolius (misapplied).
Subsequent research revealed this epithet to be a synonym for creeping thyme!
Werner Simon of Marktheidenfeld in Germany obtained this thyme from Rosemary and named it T. vulgaris 'Elsbeth',
for Elsbeth Frei, wife of Hans Frei and first published it in his 2001 catalogue.
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Thymus vulgaris 'Elsbeth'
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Thymus vulgaris 'Rosemary's White'
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In 1989 Rosemary Titterington of Iden Croft Herbs introduced a white seedling of T. vulgaris,
which she had selected and which she named T. vulgaris 'Albus'.
As Latin epithets are invalid post 1959, a new name was necessary.
I renamed it T. vulgaris 'Rosemary's White', for Rosemary and it was first published in Plant Heritage, Spring 2009.
First published in Plant Heritage 2009. Click for original article
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Thymus vulgaris 'Suditin'
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There is a grey-green leaved bushy thyme with pale pink flowers, which has been available in the nursery trade since 1931.
At that time it was known as T. nitidus and more recently as T. richardii subsp. nitidus.
Neither name is correct and this species is not known to be available in the nursery trade.
Thymus richardii and its subspecies are native to the Balearic Islands and all have a woody creeping habit,
whereas the thymes available in the nursery trade with this specific epithet have the typical growth habit
and leaves of T. vulgaris.
It therefore seemed appropriate to give it a cultivar name within the species T. vulgaris.
When renaming thymes my practice, wherever possible, has been to give a name which easily relates to the old name.
I discussed names with Dr. Janet Cubey, RHS Principal Botanist and we agreed on the name T. vulgaris 'Suditin' (nitidus backwards),
under which it was first listed in the 2006-7 edition of the RHS Plant Finder.
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Thymus vulgaris 'Suditin'
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First published in Plant Heritage 2006. Click for original article
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Thymus vulgaris French and Thymus vulgaris 'Narrow-Leaf French'
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In her 1982 thesis, A Study of the Taxa of Thymus Cultivated in the United States, Harriet Flannery described
T. vulgaris 'Narrow-Leaf French'.
This epithet had been listed by Kelsey as a common name in 1942, in Standardized Plant Names.
Within this cultivar epithet she included green, grey-green and grey leaved, strongly aromatic thymes,
defined as having revolute leaves and thymol aromatic oils.
She obtained these thymes from American nurseries, from Canada, Denmark, France and Germany and amongst the specimens
examined were English winter thyme, German winter thyme, French summer thyme and winter thyme and Greek thyme.
As this is too wide a variation to include under a single cultivar epithet, it had been considered that a Narrow-Leaf French
Group would be appropriate. However although the creation of a group to cover these aromatic thymes would
resolve this problem, it could lead to more confusion as to which thymes should be included and which excluded.
The decision has therefore been made to treat all these highly aromatic thymes as synonyms of T. vulgaris,
but with the proviso that nurserymen may name selected seedlings or wild collected thymes within the species.
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Thymus vulgaris
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Thymus vulgaris is a native of the Mediterranean region and the Romans took it with them to northern Europe and in
due course the European settlers took it to North America.
The most aromatic plants are from Spain, Italy, Greece and Israel, in addition to those from southern France, making it
confusing to include French in the cultivar epithet. As far as leaf colour is concerned, the grey and
grey-green leaved thymes tend to be the most aromatic and are from the Mediterranean region.
The dark green leaved thymes are more hardy than the grey and grey-green and are available in northern France, Germany and the UK.
Thymus vulgaris is not particularly hardy in northern England and needs regular propagation.
The cultivar T. vulgaris 'Deutsche Auslese' should be regarded as German winter thyme,
which is a synonym of T. vulgaris.
The epithet 'Auslese' is invalid as it translates as "selected form".
French winter thyme is culinary thyme, sold to French housewives to grow on the kitchen window sill for winter use,
under the name thym d'hiver.
Photographs © Margaret Easter, no copying or reproduction permitted.
First published in Plant Heritage 2008. Click for original article
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Updated April 2010
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