Resumen de Synopsis of the genus Thymus L. in the mediterranean area
Around 110 species of Thymus occur in the Mediterranean area. Five out of eight sections in which Jalas subdivided the genus are restricted to the Western Mediterranean (Iberian Peninsula and NW Africa) and Macaronesia: Mastichinai Micantes, Piperelia, Pseudothymbra and Thymus. Section Mastichina comprises two species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. Section Micames comprises two woody Moroccan species besides the herbaceous looking Iberian and Macaronesian Th. caespititius. The monotypic section Piper ella is exclusive to E Spain. Of the nine species included in the long-flowered section Pseudothymbra, seven occur on the Iberian Peninsula and the other two in NW Africa. Section Thymus comprises 11 species, three of them (Th. hyernalis, Th, is and Th. wiildenowii) distributed both on the Iberian Peninsula and in N Africa, seven are only found on the Iberian Peninsula and one, Th. vulgaris in E Spain, S France and N Italy. Of the remaining three sections, section Teuc•ioides includes three montane endemic Greek species. Section Hyphodromi comprises 46 species arranged in three subsections: Thymbropsis with 14 N African and Asian species, Subbracteati with 19 C and E Mediterranean species and Serpyllasirum with 13 N Mediterranean species. Section Serpyllum, occuring throughout the area of the genus, is apparently the oldest and taxonomically the most difficult, with more than 30 species in the Mediterranean area belonging to six different subsections
