Abstract
The first description of Crepis sancta for the french flora has been made at the end of 18 th century by Antoine Gouan, who found a specimen at the foot of the Magne Tower in Nîmes. From the botanical literature and herbarium vouchers, I tried to find an earlier description of the species in the south of France, and more generally in the western part of the Mediterranean Basin (Spain and Italy). This investigation did not support he presence of the species before Gouan described it, but it allowed to reconstitute the expansion of the species from the south to the north of France.