Origanum dictamnus L.

It grows on calcareous cliffs but also on stony and rubbly ground such as gorge beds. Found from sea level to 1,900 m asl (Commission of the European Communities 2009).

Red List Category

Red List Criteria

Version

2011

Delipetrou, P. & Bazos, I.

de Montmollin, B. & Bilz, M.

Origanum dictamnus is endemic to Crete where it has a restricted distribution with an extent of occurrence of 7,600 km² and an area of occupancy of 250 km². However, it the number of locations is large, there is no indication of population fragmentation and the habitat is often inaccessible. Overexploitation is a serious threat but there is no quantification or documentation of a reduction of population size or of the loss of locations in the past. Thus, Origanum dictamnus does not qualify for any of the threat categories, but continued overcollection of the wild populations would render the plant threatened. It is therefore assessed as Near Threatened as it is suspected to reach Criterion A.

Origanum dictamnus has been recorded in 60-70 locations throughout Crete. There is no objective assessment of the population size and all assessments are based on subjective observations. It was reported that overexploitation had caused dramatic reduction of population sizes and even the complete extinction of the plants in some areas (Skoula and Kamenopoulos 1996). Zaffran (1990) assessed the plant as “rare” on Crete regarding its abundance.

Unknown