Dioscorides' Plants, Then and Now
κενταύρειον τὸ λεπτὸν ἢ μικρόν

Common centaury

Centaurium erythraea Rafn · Gentianaceae
Identification: CertainNot endemic to GreeceLC Least ConcernLow-confidence model
Risk rank
27 of 32 (20–27)
Risk score
0.20(0.20–0.20)1 · Low
Low-confidence modelCommon centaury (Centaurium erythraea) has 492 occurrence records after cleaning; we require 30 for a reliable model. Maps are exploratory outlines only, and its rank carries a wide interval (20–27).

Then and now

2050 · moderate emissions. SSP2-4.5, 2041-2060, 3 climate models; ranges show the spread.

The plant
κενταύρειον τὸ λεπτὸν ἢ μικρόν
Photograph of Centaurium erythraea
Photo: Picture taken by BerndH · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons (photo of Common centaury)
2050 · moderate emissions
Natural Earth (PD) · model output · ~10 km cells
Loading map layers (0 of 1)
Layers
Range keptLost by 2050Gained by 2050Cultivation zoneNatura 2000Occurrence cellCells ≈ 10 × 10 km

Exploratory map (low-confidence model). Occurrences are aggregated to ~10 km cells; exact points are never published. View range data as a table

De Materia Medica · Book III · ch. 7c. 50–70 CE
κενταύρειον τὸ λεπτὸν ἢ μικρόν
kentaureion to lepton ē mikron
κενταύρειον τὸ λεπτὸν ἢ μικρόν, ὅ τινες λιμνήσιον καλοῦσιν, ἐπειδὴ ἐνίκμους φιλεῖ τόπους. …
Modern identification
Centaurium erythraeaRafn · GentianaceaeCertain

Source: Sprengel, K. 1830. Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque, tomus secundus (Commentarius in Dioscoridem), Medicorum Graecorum Opera vol….

Full citation and quoted evidence

Sprengel, K. 1830. Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque, tomus secundus (Commentarius in Dioscoridem), Medicorum Graecorum Opera vol. 26, Leipzig, Comm. lib. III cap. VII, pp. 494-495 ('De Centaurio minori, Erythraea scilicet Centaurio Pers., nulla exstitit unquam dubitatio'); Wellmann III 7 RV: Romans call it φεβριφούγιαμ (febrifugia)

Opening words of the chapter (Wellmann numbering). Edition: Wellmann 1906-1914 (vol. I 1907, vol. II 1906), Berlin: Weidmann; transcribed by eye from the archive.org page scan (Wellmann's ϑ glyph rendered as θ; no emendation). See the page scan.

Modern official status

European Medicines Agency herbal monograph

Centaurii herba · category: traditional

We report regulatory status only and make no claim about effects. Read the monograph for its exact wording.

Open the monograph on ema.europa.eu

Projected range change by 2050

2050 · moderate (SSP2-4.5)+17% (+8 to +28%)
2050 · high (SSP5-8.5)+28% (+9 to +38%)

Median and spread across 3 climate models. Whisker axis −80% to +20%, dashed tick at 0; a chevron means the value runs beyond the axis.

Suitable cultivation area, 2050 moderate0 km² (0–0 km²)

Risk score breakdown

0.20 (0.20–0.20)Low risk class 1
00.51.0
  • Range loss 0.00 of max 0.40 · (0.00–0.00)
  • Endemism 0.00 of max 0.20 · not endemic
  • Conservation status 0.00 of max 0.20 · LC · Least Concern
  • Harvest pressure 0.20 of max 0.20

Stays in the top 10 in 0% of 1,000 random weightings.

How the score is built, and how sensitive it is to weights

Model quality

Low grade
AUC (spatial block CV)
0.71 ± 0.05
Distance-only baseline AUC
0.70 ours is higher
Boyce index
0.90 ± 0.04
TSS
0.34 ± 0.09
Occurrence records
492 after cleaning (of 729)

5-fold spatial block cross-validation (~25 km blocks); ± is one standard deviation across folds. Null model AUC 0.50. The baseline scores each held-out point by its distance to the nearest training record, on the same folds. "Standard" grade means ≥ 30 records, AUC ≥ 0.75 and above the baseline; fewer than 10 records is a data gap; anything else is low grade.

Suggested action

Monitor

Stable or expanding; keep watching harvest and status. Resolve the data first.

Rule: Gains or keeps habitat · no 2050 cultivation zone.

See the action plan

Identification through time

Who has matched κενταύρειον τὸ λεπτὸν ἢ μικρόν to which modern plant, from the Renaissance to today.

All names through time
Cited for the identification we modelProposed an alternativeAlternative preferred by our sourceAlternative rejected by our sourceCommonly proposed, not verified by us
Renaissance commentators
Linnaean botany & Flora Graeca
Edition
Modern
150016001700180019002000
  • κενταύρειον τὸ λεπτὸν ἢ μικρόνDMM 3.7 · Common centauryCentaurium erythraeaCertain

Select a mark to read who proposed which plant, and the source we read it in.

Dates are each authority's main herbal or commentary (approximate, "c."), used to order the timeline. Claims are parsed from our curated identification table; every quote links back to a page scan or edition on the plant page.

Caveats

  • Low-confidence model: 492 thinned records (we require 30) or AUC below 0.75.

Range data (map alternative)

ScenarioSuitable ~10 km cellsChangeShare in Natura 2000
Now1053—25.1%
2050 moderate1,118 (1,068–1,221)+17% (+8 to +28%)26% (26–27%)
2050 high1,214 (1,059–1,294)+28% (+9 to +38%)26% (26–26%)