Author: navidcod 
Thymus kotschyans Boiss. & Hohen.
Parvin Salehi Shanjani and Leila Rasoulzadeh
Natural Resources Gene Bank, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran.
Uploaded at August 2021
Scientific editors: Valiollah Mozaffarian and Masoumeh Izadpanah
Seed Storage
The storage behavior of this species is orthodox (desiccation-tolerant seeds); dry to 15-20% eRH and store at -20 °C.
Germination requirements
The seeds of this species are not dormant. Sterilize seeds before placing them on wet germination paper. Place seeds two weeks in 4 ºC to germinate uniformly. Then germinate under an alternating temperature regime of 15/20 ºC (the higher temperature for 16 hours in light and the lower one for eight hours in dark).
Morphology
Fruit shape: Nut
Fruit type: Nutlets globose to oval, roundish hilum with a small beak. Surface granulate, slightly lustrous, dark to yellowish light brown.
Seed size: Length 1.2 to 1.4 mm, width 1 to 1.1 mm in an accession from Divandareh, Kurdistan with 1000 seeds weight 1.1 g, which was collected in 2004 by Hoshidari and Moradi, and the cultivated sample was identified by Ziba Jamehzad with accession number 17010.
1000 seed weight: 0.1 to 1.5 g
Biological features
Life form: A perennial, dwarf subshrub, with abundant erect branches, 6 to 12 cm long flowering stems.
Inflorescences and flower type and pollination mechanisms: Inflorescence dense head. Flowers hermaphrodite, zygomorphic white to light pink. Plant monoecious, cross-pollinate. Pollination is carried out by insects (entomophily).
Time of flowering: Mid-spring to mid-summer
Time of seed ripening: Late spring to mid-summer
Seed dispersal methods: The seeds are displaced by weight.
Geographical distribution: Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Caucasia. Typus from Iraq.
Distribution in Iran: North, Northwest, West, and the center. Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Khorasan, Semnan, Hamedan, Kermanshah, and Tehran.
Taxonomy
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Thymus
Species: kotschyans
Persian name: Avishane kuhi
References and Links
Bojňanský, V. and Fargašová, A. 2007. Atlas of seeds and fruits of central and East-European flora: the Carpathian Mountains region. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1046 pp.
Ghahraman, A. Flore of Iran. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands with University of Tehran Publication. https://floraofiran.net/index.php.
Jamzad, Z. 2009. Thymus and Satureja species of Iran. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran. 171 pp.
Morales, R. 2002. The history, botany and taxonomy of the genus Thymus, In: E. Stahl-Biskup and F. Sáez (eds.), The genus Thymus, Taylor and Francis, London and New York.
Mozaffarian, V. 2012. A Pictorial Dictionary of Botany. Farhange Moaser publisher, 1088 pp.
Mozaffarian, V.A. 1998. Dictionary of Iranian Plants Names. Moaser Publisher, Tehran Farhang, 671 pp.
Nasiri, M., Seyedian, S.E., Sharifi Ashorabadi, E. 2016. Investigation of seed germination, establishment and identification of different Thymus species available in Natural Resources Gene Bank of Iran. Iranian Journal of Medical and Aromatic Plants, 32 (1): 115-126. DOI: 10.22092/ijmapr.2016.106141.
Rechinger, K.H. 1982. Flora Iranica. vol.152: Akademische druck and Varagsanstalt. Graz. 542-543.
Sharma, O.P. 2009. Plant taxonomy 2E. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, New Delhi, 563 pp.
Tscheulin, T. and T. Petanidou. 2011. Does spatial population structure affect seed set in pollen-limited Thymus capitatus? Apidologie, 42: 67-77.
