Dioscorides' Plants, Then and Now
στοιχάς

French / topped lavender

Lavandula stoechas L. · Lamiaceae
Identification: CertainNot endemic to GreeceConservation status not assessed
Risk rank
23 of 32 (19–26)
Risk score
0.28(0.28–0.28)2 · Moderate

Then and now

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

The plant
στοιχάς
Photograph of Lavandula stoechas
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons (photo of French / topped lavender)
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

Occurrences are aggregated to ~10 km cells; exact points are never published. View range data as a table

De Materia Medica · Book III · ch. 26c. 50–70 CE
στοιχάς
stoichas
στοιχάς· γεννᾶται μὲν ἐν ταῖς κατὰ Γαλατίαν νήσοις κατ' ἀντικρὺς Μασσαλίας, καλουμέναις Στοιχάσιν, ὅθεν καὶ τὴν ὀνομασίαν ἔσχεν· …
Modern identification
Lavandula stoechasL. · LamiaceaeCertain

Source: Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, pp. 507-508; Fraas 1845, pp. 174-175; Osbaldeston 2000.

Full citation and quoted evidence

Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, pp. 507-508 (Comm. III cap. XXVIII): name from the Stoechades islands off Massilia (Hyères); 'Planta, de qua sermo est, Lavandula Stoechas nobis dicitur, a Fuchsio, ni fallor, primo illustrata.' No competing candidate named. Fraas 1845, pp. 174-175: '4. Lavandula Stoechas' = στιχάς, στοιχάς Diosc. 3,31, Plin.; modern χαμολίβανο (μαυροκέφαλο sec. Sibthorp); on xirobouna (Hymettus to 1000 ft) and damper lowlands. Osbaldeston 2000, ch. 3-31 STOICHAS: SUGGESTED Stichas, Stichas arabica [Fuchs], Stoechas purpurea [Bauhin], Lavandula stoechas. (https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_dioscsprengelx02/page/n509/mode/1up ; https://archive.org/details/synopsisplantaru00fraa/page/n219/mode/1up)

Opening words of the chapter (Wellmann numbering). Edition: Wellmann, Pedanii Dioscuridis Anazarbei De materia medica, vol. II (Berlin 1906), p. 36; read off the archive.org page image (item b21459162_0002) and cross-checked against two OCR layers; ϑ printed as θ. See the page scan.

No European Medicines Agency herbal monograph for this species.

Projected range change by 2050

2050 · moderate (SSP2-4.5)+45% (+36 to +47%)
2050 · high (SSP5-8.5)+53% (+40 to +60%)

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 moderate6,813 km² (5,608–7,330 km²)

Risk score breakdown

0.28 (0.28–0.28)Moderate risk class 2
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 0.10 of max 0.20 · not assessed
  • Harvest pressure 0.18 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

Standard grade
AUC (spatial block CV)
0.86 ± 0.03
Distance-only baseline AUC
0.85 ours is higher
Boyce index
0.87 ± 0.07
TSS
0.60 ± 0.05
Occurrence records
576 after cleaning (of 873)

5-fold spatial block cross-validation (~25 km blocks); ± is one standard deviation across folds. Null model AUC 0.49. 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

Cultivation opportunity

Climate-resilient candidate crop; cultivation can take pressure off wild collection.

Rule: Gains or keeps habitat · has a 2050 cultivation zone.

Where it could be grown

Identification through time

Who has matched στοιχάς 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

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.

Range data (map alternative)

ScenarioSuitable ~10 km cellsChangeShare in Natura 2000
Now591—23.4%
2050 moderate763 (723–777)+45% (+36 to +47%)23% (23–24%)
2050 high806 (741–836)+53% (+40 to +60%)23% (23–23%)