Thymus 'American Silver'
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There is a silver variegated thyme available from American nurseries as T. vulgaris 'Argenteus'.
Mrs. M. Grieve in A Modern Herbal in 1931, describing
T. vulgaris, wrote
"Another variety, the Silver Thyme, is the hardiest of all and has perhaps the best flavour."
Helen Fox in The Years in My Herb Garden in 1953, describing T. vulgaris, wrote
"Mrs. Grieve, in A Modern Herbal, mentions a variegated form."
Helen Wilson in The Fragrant Year in 1967, wrote
"A variegated form, known by its scent ... is variously offered as 'Silver Thyme', 'Silver Lemon' and 'Silver Queen'
but there is nothing of lemon in it."
Léonie Bell's illustration is entitled T. vulgaris argenteus.
Gertrude B. Foster in Herbs for Every Garden in 1973, wrote
"The English grow a form called Silver Queen which is lemon-scented with silver markings on the margins of the leaves but
the silver thyme available in this country [America] has the typical thyme pungency without lemon overtones." |
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However the use of the epithet 'Argenteus' for the lemon scented thyme, first listed by
Backhouse of York in 1895, predates its use for the thyme scented American thyme.
In consultation with Larry Hatch of New Ornamentals Society I renamed this thyme T. 'American Silver';
first published in Plant Heritage, Autumn 2008.
T. 'American Silver' published in the International Thymus Register and Checklist 2009.
Thymus 'Aureomarginatus'
Parkinson in The Garden of Pleasant Flowers in 1629, described
"Thymum serpillum aureum sive versicolor, Guilded or embroidered Tyme"
and in Theatrum Botanicum in 1640, wrote
"the chiefest difference of this sorte, from the common wilde kinde, for the greene leaves thereof are in some striped,
in others edged with a gold yellow colour, which hath caused the guilded or embroidered name."
David Thomson in the Handy Book of the Flower Garden in 1876, referred to "most useful edging plants"
and "in selecting cuttings, choose the best variegated, otherwise there is a tendency to revert to the normal green type."
First Class Certificate awarded by the RHS in 1870 to T. citriodorus aureus from Messrs. E.G. Henderson & Son.
This is more likely to be the variegated thyme, widely cultivated in the 1870s and 80s, rather than the golden leaved
T. pulegioides 'Aureus' formerly known as
T. citriodorus 'Aureus', as this nursery also listed a golden leaved thyme, T. 'Golden Fleece'.
Johnson's Gardener's Dictionary in 1894 listed "T. citriodorus aureo-marginatus (golden-margined).
Leaved edged with yellow. 1871." This thyme was available from British nurseries until the late 1930s
and is currently only available from American nurseries.
As the epithet citriodorus should now be regarded as a synonym of T. pulegioides,
I proposed that this thyme should be renamed T. 'Aureomarginatus', adopting the 1871 epithet cited in Johnson,
rather than the 1870 'Aureus' epithet, as it would be destabilising to change the epithet of T. pulegioides 'Aureus';
first published in Plant Heritage, Spring 2009.
T. 'Aureomarginatus' published in the International Thymus Register and Checklist 2009.
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