Thymus serpyllum
speciesAt a glance
Sources15 archives
Databases and archives Thymus serpyllum's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation13 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility59 692 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI26 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics48 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
dukesphytochemcompounds
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Thymus serpyllum, known by the common names of Breckland thyme,Schauer, Thomas (1978). A Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain and Europe, Collins, London, p. 184. . Breckland wild thyme, wild thyme, creeping thyme, or elfin thyme, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to most of Europe and North Africa. It is a low, usually prostrate subshrub growing to 2 cm tall with creeping stems up to 10 cm long. The oval evergreen leaves are 3–8 mm long. The strongly scented flowers are either lilac, pink-purple, magenta, or a rare white, all 4–6 mm long and produced in clusters. The hardy plant tolerates some pedestrian traffic and produces odors ranging from heavily herbal to lightly lemon, depending on the variety.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology12
Life cycle & reproduction13
Diet & foraging2
Habitat & environment9
Physiology & chemistry8
Other traits1
Compounds documented for Thymus serpyllum across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds57 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TANNIN | 75,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| ROSMARINIC-ACID | 23,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| EO | 19,100 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| CARVACROL | 10,505 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| URSOLIC-ACID | 9,100 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| CAFFEIC-ACID | 6,200 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| OLEANOLIC-ACID | 4,800 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| GAMMA-TERPINENE | 3,534 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| P-CYMENE | 3,285 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| CARYOPHYLLENE | 2,292 ppm | DukesPhytochem |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Thymus serpyllum has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Thymus serpyllum carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 2418×GoaT · DTOL Flowering Plants Estimates Kew · CCDB · brit-fl · CCDB · nw-europe-fl +8
2n 503×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · book-ipcn75-78 · CCDB · CromoCat 2015
2n 201×CCDB · book-indian_vol1
2n 261×CCDB · book-indian_vol1
n 123×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 · CCDB · CromoCat 2015
n 133×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · CromoCat 2015
diploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type59 692 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions94 of 175 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Uniwersytet Wrocławskilocation not on record | 2 239 |
| Paris, FR | 1 560 |
| LDlocation not on record | 384 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 247 |
| Oskarshamn, SE | 206 |
| Kuopio, FI | 201 |
| SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record | 145 |
| Tartu, EE | 142 |
| Oulu, FI | 102 |
| Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record | 99 |
| Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universitat Greifswaldlocation not on record | 98 |
| Turku, FI | 95 |
| Tallinn, EE | 91 |
| QAUlocation not on record | 89 |
| Uppsala, SE | 74 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 69 |
| Brussel, BE | 67 |
| Uniwersytet Warszawskilocation not on record | 58 |
| Jyväskylä, FI | 56 |
| Zürich, CH | 50 |
| GBS RAN - Glavny Botanichesky Sad Rossijskoj Akademii Nauklocation not on record | 46 |
| Görlitz, DE | 41 |
| TUR-Alocation not on record | 40 |
| Philadelphia, US | 37 |
| Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiejlocation not on record | 34 |
| Zürich, CH | 33 |
| BFLlocation not on record | 30 |
| Institut und Museum fuer Geologie und Palaeontologielocation not on record | 24 |
| Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicachlocation not on record | 24 |
| BDBClocation not on record | 23 |
| University of New Hampshirelocation not on record | 21 |
| Bronx, US | 20 |
| BClocation not on record | 20 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 19 |
| South Kensington, GB | 18 |
| New Haven, US | 16 |
| Tula State Universitylocation not on record | 16 |
| València, ES | 15 |
| Helsinki, FI | 15 |
| Xining, CN | 15 |
| Naturhistorische Gesellschaft Nürnberg e.V.location not on record | 14 |
| John May Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 13 |
| ENTClocation not on record | 13 |
| Beijing, CN | 12 |
| College Park, US | 12 |
| Barcelona, ES | 11 |
| Naturalis Biodiversity Centerlocation not on record | 10 |
| Chengdu, CN | 10 |
| Dresden, DE | 10 |
| Berlin, DE | 9 |
| Uniwersytet Rolniczy im. Hugona Kołłątaja w Krakowielocation not on record | 9 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 9 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 9 |
| Baroda, IN | 8 |
| Olocation not on record | 8 |
| Trondheim, NO | 8 |
| LfUlocation not on record | 7 |
| Wellington, NZ | 7 |
| Monastir, TN | 7 |
| CICYTEXlocation not on record | 7 |
| Santa Barbara, US | 7 |
| Winterthur, CH | 7 |
| Bourges, FR | 7 |
| Staatliches Museum fuer Naturkunde Karlsruhe (State Museum of Natural History)location not on record | 6 |
| Nanjing, CN | 6 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 6 |
| Staten Island, US | 6 |
| Wlocation not on record | 6 |
| Corvallis, US | 5 |
| Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisienlocation not on record | 5 |
| “Manash Kozybayev North Kazakhstan University" NPLClocation not on record | 5 |
| Hudson, US | 5 |
| Nanjing, CN | 5 |
| Québec, CA | 5 |
| College of the Atlantic, Museumlocation not on record | 5 |
| San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record | 4 |
| UoB-IBlocation not on record | 4 |
| GJOlocation not on record | 4 |
| Tilburg, NL | 4 |
| Bangkok, TH | 4 |
| Philadelphia, US | 4 |
| Instytut Ochrony Przyrody Polskiej Akademii Nauklocation not on record | 4 |
| MHNAIXlocation not on record | 4 |
| Rovaniemi, FI | 3 |
| Granada, ES | 3 |
| Xian, CN | 3 |
| CJBGlocation not on record | 3 |
| Kingston, US | 3 |
| Bloomington, US | 3 |
| Madison, US | 3 |
| PRClocation not on record | 3 |
| The Tula Region State Institution of Culture "Tula Museum Association"location not on record | 3 |
| Ivano-Frankove, UA | 3 |
| Universidad del Pais Vasco (UPV/EHU)location not on record | 3 |
| Finnish Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 3 |
| WTUlocation not on record | 3 |
| Pullman, US | 3 |
| KMNlocation not on record | 2 |
| Pamplona, ES | 2 |
| Montréal, CA | 2 |
| Bergen, NO | 2 |
| Davenport, US | 2 |
| Podgorica, ME | 2 |
| Dehra Dun, IN | 2 |
| Forssa, FI | 2 |
| Mississippi State, US | 2 |
| Göteborg, SE | 2 |
| Bozeman, US | 2 |
| Shanghai, CN | 2 |
| Durham, US | 2 |
| Boumlocation not on record | 2 |
| No collectionlocation not on record | 2 |
| Philadelphia, US | 2 |
| Xiamen, CN | 2 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad de La Salle (La Salle)location not on record | 2 |
| H-Meierottlocation not on record | 2 |
| Dekalb, US | 2 |
| Salamanca, ES | 2 |
| National Museum Waleslocation not on record | 2 |
| Uniwersytet w Białymstokulocation not on record | 1 |
| GZUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Oswego, US | 1 |
| Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Scienceslocation not on record | 1 |
| Christchurch, NZ | 1 |
| Riverside, US | 1 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 1 |
| Saint Louis, US | 1 |
| Universität Erlangen-Nürnberglocation not on record | 1 |
| Montréal, CA | 1 |
| Ivano-Frankivsk, UA | 1 |
| Inner Mongolia Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Nijmegen, NL | 1 |
| Royal Botanic Gardens, Kewlocation not on record | 1 |
| Davis, US | 1 |
| Musée des Confluenceslocation not on record | 1 |
| Kew, GB | 1 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 1 |
| US | 1 |
| SNSNMClocation not on record | 1 |
| Sevilla, ES | 1 |
| Columbia, US | 1 |
| Taipei, TW | 1 |
| Beijing Natural History Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Guangzhou, CN | 1 |
| Sant Julià de Lòria, AD | 1 |
| Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsinlocation not on record | 1 |
| Uniwersytet Opolskilocation not on record | 1 |
| Mlocation not on record | 1 |
| McWane Science Centerlocation not on record | 1 |
| Peking Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Toronto, CA | 1 |
| Saint John, CA | 1 |
| Tuscaloosa, US | 1 |
| Tulane Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Museo Achille Folettolocation not on record | 1 |
| CJBNlocation not on record | 1 |
| ROM020location not on record | 1 |
| Natural History Museum, Tribhuvan Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Millersville, US | 1 |
| Awka, NG | 1 |
| National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinarian Research, Portugallocation not on record | 1 |
| MAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Boise, US | 1 |
| Auckland, NZ | 1 |
| Cheney, US | 1 |
| Vancouver, CA | 1 |
| Musee National d'histoire Naturelle Luxembourglocation not on record | 1 |
| Keene State Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Minia, EG | 1 |
| Muséum Henri Lecoqlocation not on record | 1 |
| Denver, US | 1 |
| Flagstaff, US | 1 |
| Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| IMMUlocation not on record | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Thymus serpyllum was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.