Dioscorides' Plants, Then and Now
ὕσσωπος

Hyssop

Hyssopus officinalis L. · Lamiaceae
Identification: DisputedNot endemic to GreeceConservation status not assessedLow-confidence model
Risk rank
2 of 32 (1–3)
Risk score
0.57(0.52–0.59)3 · Elevated
Identification disputed. Scholars propose more than one modern species. We model the most cited candidate and show the alternative for comparison. Rankings are also reported without disputed plants on the Methods page. See how its rank changes under each alternative identification.
Modelled
Hyssopus officinalis
Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, pp. 506-507 (Comm. III cap. XXVII): Dioscorides gives no diagnostic indication; Sprengel conjectures Origanum aegyptiacum / O. syriacum / O. smyrnaeum and states that 'our' hyssop (H. officinalis), spontaneous in S France and Italy, is 'neque in Graecia, Syria, aut Aegypto obvii' and was given the name by medieval writers (first figured by Tragus). He does NOT identify ὕσσωπος with Hyssopus officinalis. | Fraas 1845, p. 182: ὕσσωπος Diosc. 3,27 = 'Orig. smyrnaeum vel syriacum L.'; 'Bei Mangel aller weiteren Beschreibung des Yssop im Diosc. folge ich Sprengel'; 'Es wächst hysoppus off. nicht in Griechenland, noch in Kleinasien oder Syrien!'; Thymbra spicata 'passt nicht wohl'. Also p. 174: 'Hyssopus officinalis ist eine unserer Flora ganz fremde Pflanze'. Osbaldeston 2000, ch. 3-30 USSOPOS: SUGGESTED Hyssopus hortensis [Fuchs], Hyssopus officinalis [Linnaeus], Origanum syriacum - Hyssop of the Bible [Mabberley]. (https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_dioscsprengelx02/page/n508/mode/1up ; https://archive.org/details/synopsisplantaru00fraa/page/n227/mode/1up ; https://archive.org/details/synopsisplantaru00fraa/page/n219/mode/1up)
Alternative
Origanum syriacum L.
unverified this session - commonly proposed; note it is NOT native to Greece (absent from Dimopoulos 2013; WCVP range CYP, LBS, PAL, SAU, SIN, TUR)
Alternative
Origanum syriacum / O. aegyptiacum / O. smyrnaeum
Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 507 (Sprengel's own conjecture)
Alternative
Thymbra spicata L.
Sibthorp, cited and rejected by Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 507
Alternative
Thymbra verticillata L.
Dalechamp, cited by Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 507
Alternative
Teucrium pseudhyssopus Schreb.
Fabius Columna, cited by Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 507
Alternative
Satureja graeca / S. juliana (modern Greek name ὕσσωπος)
Sibthorp, cited by Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 507 ('nullo modo cum Hyssopo Dioscoridis congruunt')
Alternative
Origanum smyrnaeum vel syriacum L.
Fraas 1845, p. 182
Alternative
Hyssopus officinalis L. and Origanum syriacum (both listed)
Osbaldeston 2000, ch. 3-30
Low-confidence modelHyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) has 16 occurrence records after cleaning; we require 30 for a reliable model. Maps are exploratory outlines only, and its rank carries a wide interval (1–3).

Then and now

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

The plant
ὕσσωπος
Photograph of Hyssopus officinalis
Photo: Robert Flogaus-Faust · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons (photo of Hyssop)
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. 25c. 50–70 CE
ὕσσωπος
hyssopos
ὕσσωπος· πόα γνώριμος, δισσή· ἡ μὲν γάρ τίς ἐστιν ὀρεινὴ ἡ δὲ κηπευτή· ἀρίστη δὲ ἡ ἐν Κιλικίᾳ γεννωμένη. …
Modern identification
Hyssopus officinalisL. · LamiaceaeDisputed

Very few Greek records. The alternative identification, Origanum syriacum, does not grow wild in Greece, so it cannot be modelled here. COL now places H. officinalis in Dracocephalum. Source: Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, pp. 506-507; Fraas 1845, p. 182; Osbaldeston 2000.

Full citation and quoted evidence

Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, pp. 506-507 (Comm. III cap. XXVII): Dioscorides gives no diagnostic indication; Sprengel conjectures Origanum aegyptiacum / O. syriacum / O. smyrnaeum and states that 'our' hyssop (H. officinalis), spontaneous in S France and Italy, is 'neque in Graecia, Syria, aut Aegypto obvii' and was given the name by medieval writers (first figured by Tragus). He does NOT identify ὕσσωπος with Hyssopus officinalis. Fraas 1845, p. 182: ὕσσωπος Diosc. 3,27 = 'Orig. smyrnaeum vel syriacum L.'; 'Bei Mangel aller weiteren Beschreibung des Yssop im Diosc. folge ich Sprengel'; 'Es wächst hysoppus off. nicht in Griechenland, noch in Kleinasien oder Syrien!'; Thymbra spicata 'passt nicht wohl'. Also p. 174: 'Hyssopus officinalis ist eine unserer Flora ganz fremde Pflanze'. Osbaldeston 2000, ch. 3-30 USSOPOS: SUGGESTED Hyssopus hortensis [Fuchs], Hyssopus officinalis [Linnaeus], Origanum syriacum - Hyssop of the Bible [Mabberley]. (https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_dioscsprengelx02/page/n508/mode/1up ; https://archive.org/details/synopsisplantaru00fraa/page/n227/mode/1up ; https://archive.org/details/synopsisplantaru00fraa/page/n219/mode/1up)

Opening words of the chapter (Wellmann numbering). Edition: Wellmann 1906, Pedanii Dioscuridis Anazarbei De materia medica vol. II (libri III-IV), Berlin: Weidmann; read from page scan on archive.org (BIUSante_65865x02), p. 35. See the page scan.

No European Medicines Agency herbal monograph for this species.

Projected range change by 2050

2050 · moderate (SSP2-4.5)−69% (−57 to −74%)
2050 · high (SSP5-8.5)−81% (−77 to −86%)

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 moderate374 km² (211–650 km²)

Risk score breakdown

0.57 (0.52–0.59)Elevated risk class 3
00.51.0
  • Range loss 0.27 of max 0.40 · (0.23–0.30)
  • Endemism 0.00 of max 0.20 · not endemic
  • Conservation status 0.10 of max 0.20 · not assessed
  • Harvest pressure 0.19 of max 0.20

Stays in the top 10 in 100% 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)
0.63 ± 0.00
Distance-only baseline AUC
0.64 ours is not higher
Boyce index
-0.03 ± 0.00
TSS
0.44 ± 0.00
Occurrence records
16 after cleaning (of 21)

5-fold spatial block cross-validation (~25 km blocks); ± is one standard deviation across folds. Null model AUC 0.54. 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

Protect and cultivate

Protect remaining wild stands and start cultivation in the 2050 zones. Resolve the identification first.

Rule: Loses habitat in all 3 climate models · has a 2050 cultivation zone.

Where it could be grown

Identification through time

Who has matched ὕσσωπος 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
  • ὕσσωποςDMM 3.25 · HyssopHyssopus officinalisDisputed

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

  • Identification is disputed; results describe Hyssopus officinalis L., which may not be the plant Dioscorides meant.
  • Low-confidence model: 16 thinned records (we require 30) or AUC below 0.75.
  • Very few Greek records. The alternative identification, Origanum syriacum, does not grow wild in Greece, so it cannot be modelled here. COL now places H. officinalis in Dracocephalum.

Range data (map alternative)

ScenarioSuitable ~10 km cellsChangeShare in Natura 2000
Now112—25.9%
2050 moderate44 (44–61)−69% (−57 to −74%)25% (23–27%)
2050 high37 (28–41)−81% (−77 to −86%)22% (20–25%)