Thymus praecox is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of thyme

Thyme

Thyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...

. A common name is Mother-of-Thyme; "creeping thyme" and "wild thyme" may be used where Thymus serpyllum, normally called thus, is not found. This thyme has a strong scent similar to Oregano

Oregano

Oregano – scientifically named Origanum vulgare by Carolus Linnaeus – is a common species of Origanum, a genus of the mint family . It is native to warm-temperate western and southwestern Eurasia and the Mediterranean region.Oregano is a perennial herb, growing from 20–80 cm tall,...

. It can be used in cuisine

Cuisine

Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...

 or as an evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

 ground cover for gardens.

T. praecox has escaped cultivation in North America.

Classification

T. praecox is in the genus Thymus

Thymus (genus)

The genus Thymus contains about 350species of aromatic perennial herbaceous plants and subshrubs to 40 cm tall in the family Lamiaceae, native to temperate regions in Europe, North Africa and Asia....

belonging to the Serpyllum section. It has sometimes been reclassified as T. polytrichus.

Subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 and cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

s

• Thymus praecox subsp. praecox
  • Thymus praecox 'Doone Valley' (recently reclassified as a hybrid under the name Thymus 'Doone Valley')
  • Thymus praecox 'Minus'
  • Thymus praecox 'Pseudolanuginosus'
• Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus (sometimes classified as Thymus polytrichus subsp. britannicus)
  • Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Albus' (white moss thyme)
  • Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Languinosus' (woolly thyme)
  • Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Hall's Woolly'
  • Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Pink Chintz' (recently reclassified as Thymus serpyllum 'Pink Chintz')

• Thymus praecox subsp. polytrichus (A. Kern. Ex Borbàs) Jalas. Found in the wild in Bosnia.
• Thymus praecox subsp. skorpilii (Velen.) Jalas. Found in the wild in Bosnia.

Like other species of thyme, T. praecox is characterized by substantial differences in essential oil

Essential oil

An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils or aetherolea, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove...

composition from plant to plant. Plants which differ in this way are known as chemotypes and a geographical population will generally contain a mix of chemotypes. For example, studies of chemotypes in Greenland, Iceland, Norway, England, Scotland, and Ireland show that chemotypes span those countries rather than being geographically localized. Some of those areas contain greater chemotype diversity than others.