Tomillo sanjuanero
It is a plant that belongs to the Labiatae family. The German botanist Heinrich Moritz Willkomm described it for the first time in 1870 using materials from lower Aragón that had been sent to him by the pharmacist Francisco Loscos from Teruel. He dedicated the plant to Loscos.
Distribution
This species is endemic to the eastern half of the Iberian Peninsula and is distributed across much of the Ebro Valley. It also extends into the Iberian System and reaches the Pre-Pyrenees.
Habitat
It is found at elevations ranging from 130 to 1010 metres above sea level. It inhabits rosemary and thyme scrublands, open areas, cleared scrub, and skeletal soils with loamy and gypsiferous characteristics. The plant thrives in a continental Mediterranean climate. It flowers at the end of June, and its fruits ripen by late summer. This clonal species reproduces vegetatively via stolons and exhibits high resilience and low mortality rates.
Conservation
The localities of this species have been grouped into 26 populations. Its main threats include direct habitat destruction due to agriculture, the construction of transport infrastructure, and mining activities.
Image description
The optical microscope image shows an ovoid or subspherical seed with a brown outer covering or pericarp. The surface is nearly smooth, although a faint reticulation of rounded cells is visible. The seed is extremely small, well under a millimetre, making it difficult to observe without magnification.