Dioscorides' Plants, Then and Now
ἀρνόγλωσσον

Ribwort plantain

Plantago lanceolata L. · Plantaginaceae
Identification: DisputedNot endemic to GreeceConservation status not assessed
Risk rank
12 of 32 (6–12)
Risk score
0.30(0.30–0.30)2 · Moderate
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
Plantago lanceolata
Sprengel, K. 1830. Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque, tomus secundus (Commentarius in Dioscoridem), Medicorum Graecorum Opera vol. 26, Leipzig, Comm. lib. II cap. CLII, p. 465 (the larger arnoglosson is usually taken as Plantago major, but Sprengel prefers P. asiatica or P. altissima Jacq.; the smaller was P. lagopus for Sibthorp, P. lanceolata for the 'fathers of botany', P. maritima for Sprengel)
Alternative
Plantago major L. (larger kind, majority view)
Sprengel, K. 1830. Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque, tomus secundus (Commentarius in Dioscoridem), Medicorum Graecorum Opera vol. 26, Leipzig, p. 465
Alternative
Plantago lagopus L. (smaller kind)
Sibthorp per Sprengel, K. 1830. Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque, tomus secundus (Commentarius in Dioscoridem), Medicorum Graecorum Opera vol. 26, Leipzig, p. 465
Alternative
Plantago maritima L. (smaller kind)
Sprengel, K. 1830. Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque, tomus secundus (Commentarius in Dioscoridem), Medicorum Graecorum Opera vol. 26, Leipzig, p. 465
Alternative
Plantago asiatica L. / P. altissima Jacq. (larger kind)
Sprengel, K. 1830. Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque, tomus secundus (Commentarius in Dioscoridem), Medicorum Graecorum Opera vol. 26, Leipzig, p. 465

Then and now

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

The plant
ἀρνόγλωσσον
Photograph of Plantago lanceolata
Photo: sannse · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons (photo of Ribwort plantain)
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 II · ch. 126c. 50–70 CE
ἀρνόγλωσσον
arnoglōsson
ἀρνόγλωσσον, οἱ δὲ ἑπτάπλευρον, οἱ δὲ πολύπλευρον· διττόν ἐστι, τὸ μὲν μικρὸν τὸ δὲ μεῖζον. …
Modern identification
Plantago lanceolataL. · PlantaginaceaeDisputed

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. II cap. CLII, p. 465 (the larger arnoglosson is usually taken as Plantago major, but Sprengel prefers P. asiatica or P. altissima Jacq.; the smaller was P. lagopus for Sibthorp, P. lanceolata for the 'fathers of botany', P. maritima for Sprengel)

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

Plantaginis lanceolatae folium

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)+69% (+55 to +75%)
2050 · high (SSP5-8.5)+80% (+55 to +91%)

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

0.30 (0.30–0.30)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 0.20 of max 0.20

Stays in the top 10 in 56% 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)
0.75 ± 0.03
Distance-only baseline AUC
0.71 ours is higher
Boyce index
0.96 ± 0.03
TSS
0.41 ± 0.05
Occurrence records
1,080 after cleaning (of 1,234)

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

Monitor

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

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

See the action plan

Identification through time

Who has matched ἀρνόγλωσσον 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.

Caveats

  • Identification is disputed; results describe Plantago lanceolata L., which may not be the plant Dioscorides meant.

Range data (map alternative)

ScenarioSuitable ~10 km cellsChangeShare in Natura 2000
Now872—23.7%
2050 moderate1,300 (1,198–1,354)+69% (+55 to +75%)25% (25–26%)
2050 high1,403 (1,218–1,465)+80% (+55 to +91%)25% (25–26%)