Dioscorides' Plants, Then and Now
σιδηρῖτις

Cretan mountain tea / ironwort

Sideritis syriaca L. · Lamiaceae
Identification: DisputedNot endemic to GreeceConservation status not assessedLow-confidence model
Risk rank
4 of 32 (3–7)
Risk score
0.49(0.42–0.50)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
Sideritis syriaca
Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, pp. 588-589 (Comm. IV cap. XXXIII, Sideritis prima): Matthiolus 'hallucinatus est' proposing Lycopus europaeus; 'Magis placet Fuchsii sententia, qui Stachyos rectae effigiem huc collocat'; Fab. Columna proposed Stachys heraclea All., Clusius Sideritis scordioides. Sprengel does NOT name Sideritis syriaca or any Sideritis as Dioscorides' plant. | Fraas 1845, p. 175: Sideritis syriaca L. is assigned NOT to σιδηρῖτις but to κέστρον Diosc. 4,1 (betony; Sibthorp put Betonica alopecurus there); Fraas notes Aegineta distinguishes the 'Greek betony' (Sid. syriaca) from κέστρον. Fraas assigns Sideritis romana / S. elegans tentatively to φλομίδες ('?'). Osbaldeston 2000, ch. 4-33 SIDERITIS: SUGGESTED Sideritis prima [Fuchs], Sideritis vulgaris hirsuta erecta [Bauhin], Betonica annua var hirsuta, Stachys recta [Linnaeus], Stachys procumbens, Stachys sideritis. (https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_dioscsprengelx02/page/n590/mode/1up ; https://archive.org/details/synopsisplantaru00fraa/page/n220/mode/1up)
Alternative
Sideritis raeseri Boiss. & Heldr.
listed as a separate Greek mainland species in Dimopoulos et al. 2013; covered by EMA Sideritis herba
Alternative
Sideritis scardica Griseb.
EMA Sideritis herba species list
Alternative
Sideritis clandestina (Bory & Chaub.) Hayek
EMA Sideritis herba species list
Alternative
Stachys recta L.
Fuchs, preferred by Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 589
Alternative
Lycopus europaeus L.
Matthiolus, rejected by Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 588
Alternative
Stachys heraclea All.
Fab. Columna, cited by Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 589
Alternative
Sideritis scordioides L.
Clusius, cited by Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, p. 589
Alternative
Sideritis syriaca L. = κέστρον / Greek betony (a different Dioscorides chapter, Diosc. 4,1 Sprengel numbering)
Fraas 1845, p. 175
Alternative
Stachys recta L.
Osbaldeston 2000, ch. 4-33
Low-confidence modelCretan mountain tea / ironwort (Sideritis syriaca) has 22 occurrence records after cleaning; we require 30 for a reliable model. Maps are exploratory outlines only, and its rank carries a wide interval (3–7).

Then and now

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

The plant
σιδηρῖτις
Photograph of Sideritis syriaca
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons (photo of Cretan mountain tea / ironwort)
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 IV · ch. 33c. 50–70 CE
σιδηρῖτις
sideritis
σιδηρῖτις, οἱ δὲ Ἡρακλείαν· πόα ἐστὶ φύλλα ἔχουσα ὅμοια πρασίῳ, ἐπιμηκέστερα δὲ πρὸς τὰ τοῦ ἐλελισφάκου ἢ δρυός …
Modern identification
Sideritis syriacaL. · LamiaceaeDisputed

Source: Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, pp. 588-589; Fraas 1845, p. 175; Osbaldeston 2000.

Full citation and quoted evidence

Sprengel 1830, vol. 2, pp. 588-589 (Comm. IV cap. XXXIII, Sideritis prima): Matthiolus 'hallucinatus est' proposing Lycopus europaeus; 'Magis placet Fuchsii sententia, qui Stachyos rectae effigiem huc collocat'; Fab. Columna proposed Stachys heraclea All., Clusius Sideritis scordioides. Sprengel does NOT name Sideritis syriaca or any Sideritis as Dioscorides' plant. Fraas 1845, p. 175: Sideritis syriaca L. is assigned NOT to σιδηρῖτις but to κέστρον Diosc. 4,1 (betony; Sibthorp put Betonica alopecurus there); Fraas notes Aegineta distinguishes the 'Greek betony' (Sid. syriaca) from κέστρον. Fraas assigns Sideritis romana / S. elegans tentatively to φλομίδες ('?'). Osbaldeston 2000, ch. 4-33 SIDERITIS: SUGGESTED Sideritis prima [Fuchs], Sideritis vulgaris hirsuta erecta [Bauhin], Betonica annua var hirsuta, Stachys recta [Linnaeus], Stachys procumbens, Stachys sideritis. (https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_dioscsprengelx02/page/n590/mode/1up ; https://archive.org/details/synopsisplantaru00fraa/page/n220/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), pp. 193-194. See the page scan.

Modern official status

European Medicines Agency herbal monograph

Sideritis herba (Sideritis scardica Griseb.; S. clandestina (Bory & Chaub.) Hayek; S. raeseri Boiss. & Heldr.; S. syriaca L., 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)−50% (−32 to −52%)
2050 · high (SSP5-8.5)−63% (−28 to −67%)

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 moderate272 km² (118–784 km²)

Risk score breakdown

0.49 (0.42–0.50)Elevated risk class 3
00.51.0
  • Range loss 0.20 of max 0.40 · (0.13–0.21)
  • 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 97% 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)
0.88 ± 0.10
Distance-only baseline AUC
0.79 ours is higher
Boyce index
-0.04 ± 0.39
TSS
0.79 ± 0.08
Occurrence records
22 after cleaning (of 52)

5-fold spatial block cross-validation (~25 km blocks); ± is one standard deviation across folds. Null model AUC 0.56. 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 σιδηρῖτις 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 Sideritis syriaca L., which may not be the plant Dioscorides meant.
  • Low-confidence model: 22 thinned records (we require 30) or AUC below 0.75.

Range data (map alternative)

ScenarioSuitable ~10 km cellsChangeShare in Natura 2000
Now472—36.2%
2050 moderate259 (257–328)−50% (−32 to −52%)45% (44–48%)
2050 high207 (187–327)−63% (−28 to −67%)49% (44–54%)