Dioscorides' Plants, Then and Now
ὀρίγανος Ἡρακλεωτική

Greek oregano

Origanum vulgare L. · Lamiaceae
Identification: ProbableNot endemic to GreeceConservation status not assessed
Risk rank
9 of 32 (4–10)
Risk score
0.37(0.35–0.38)2 · Moderate

Then and now

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

The plant
ὀρίγανος Ἡρακλεωτική
Photograph of Origanum vulgare
Photo: Ivar Leidus · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons (photo of Greek oregano)
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. 27c. 50–70 CE
ὀρίγανος Ἡρακλεωτική
origanos herakleōtikē
ὀρίγανος Ἡρακλεωτική· οἱ δὲ κονίλην καλοῦσι. φύλλον ἔχει ἐμφερὲς ὑσσώπῳ, σκιάδιον δὲ οὐ τροχοειδές, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ διῃρημένον …
Modern identification
Origanum vulgareL. · LamiaceaeProbable

The Greek plant is subsp. hirtum; modelled at species level. Source: Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 508; Fraas 1845, p. 181; Osbaldeston 2000.

Full citation and quoted evidence

Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 508 (Comm. III cap. XXIX): ὀρίγανος Ἡρακλεωτική = 'Origanum heracleoticum' (Linnaeus' name, following Matthiolus who first recognised it); Sibthorp agrees and saw it 'in Graeciae montosis siccis haud rarum'. Sprengel names Origanum heracleoticum L., not O. vulgare subsp. hirtum; equating O. heracleoticum L. with O. vulgare subsp. hirtum is a later taxonomic synonymy NOT stated in this source. Confidence 'probable' because the source gives no competing candidate but the modern name mapping is ours. Fraas 1845, p. 181: '15. Origanum heracleoticum L., scharfer Organ' = ὀρίγανος ἡρακλεωτική Diosc. 3,29; Cunila gallinacea Plin.; modern ῥίγανι ('Alle Arten!'); not rare on rocky hills of E Greece (Nauplia, Astros), to 1500 ft. (Fraas assigns Orig. vulgare v. album to ἀγριορίγανος, Diosc. 3,31 - a different chapter.) Osbaldeston 2000, ch. 3-32 ORIGANOS ERAKLEOTIKE: SUGGESTED Origanum heracleoticum [Loudon]. (https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_dioscsprengelx02/page/n509/mode/1up ; https://archive.org/details/synopsisplantaru00fraa/page/n226/mode/1up)

Opening words of the chapter (Wellmann numbering). Edition: Wellmann, Pedanii Dioscuridis Anazarbei De materia medica, vol. II (Berlin 1906), p. 37; 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)−18% (−14 to −19%)
2050 · high (SSP5-8.5)−24% (−18 to −29%)

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

0.37 (0.35–0.38)Moderate risk class 2
00.51.0
  • Range loss 0.07 of max 0.40 · (0.06–0.08)
  • Endemism 0.00 of max 0.20 · not endemic
  • Conservation status 0.10 of max 0.20 · not assessed
  • Harvest pressure 0.20 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

Standard grade
AUC (spatial block CV)
0.76 ± 0.05
Distance-only baseline AUC
0.76 ours is higher (by < 0.005)
Boyce index
0.76 ± 0.28
TSS
0.44 ± 0.05
Occurrence records
350 after cleaning (of 446)

5-fold spatial block cross-validation (~25 km blocks); ± is one standard deviation across folds. Null model AUC 0.51. 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: no cultivation fallback

Prioritise in-situ protection and seed banking; no suitable farmland found.

Rule: Loses habitat in all 3 climate models · no 2050 cultivation zone.

See the action plan

Identification through time

Who has matched ὀρίγανος Ἡρακλεωτική 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
  • ὀρίγανος ἩρακλεωτικήDMM 3.27 · Greek oreganoOriganum vulgareProbable

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 probable; results describe Origanum vulgare L., which may not be the plant Dioscorides meant.
  • The Greek plant is subsp. hirtum; modelled at species level.

Range data (map alternative)

ScenarioSuitable ~10 km cellsChangeShare in Natura 2000
Now901—27.5%
2050 moderate746 (719–751)−18% (−14 to −19%)29% (28–30%)
2050 high674 (655–734)−24% (−18 to −29%)29% (29–30%)