Ancient Greek plant Silphium.credit: wikimedia commons / Eckard Wolff-Postler cc by 3.0
Posted on 08/17/2023 10:06:04 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The "miracle" plant Silphium consumed by Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, which was thought to have become extinct two thousand years ago, has recently been rediscovered in Turkey by a professor, who thinks he's found a botanical survivor.
The plant, which the Ancient Greeks called silphion (silphium), was a golden-flowered plant. It was once the most sought-after product in the Mediterranean even before the rise of Athens and the Roman Empire.
It is believed that the plant with yellow flowers attached to a thick stalk was crushed, roasted, sauteed, and boiled for medicinal purposes, food, and even contraception. During the reign of Julius Caesar, more than a thousand pounds of the plant were stockpiled alongside gold in Rome's imperial treasures, and silphion saplings were valued at the same price as silver.
However, just seven centuries after the adored plant was first documented growing along the coast of Cyrenaica in what is now modern day Libya, silphion disappeared from the ancient Mediterranean world.
Roman chronicler Pliny the Elder in his Natural History claims that "just one stalk has been found" of the plant in the first century A.D., "and it has been given to Emperor Nero." This was the last documented account of the silphion.
(Excerpt) Read more at greekreporter.com ...
Ancient Greek plant Silphium.credit: wikimedia commons / Eckard Wolff-Postler cc by 3.0
Thanks Diana in Wisconsin.
I wonder if this is the idea behind the plant King’s Foil in Tolkien’s books?
Very interesting. I am somewhat skeptical, but this would be awesome. The ancient world thought quite highly of it.
“miracle” For what??
Silphium: Ancient Greeks :: Hemp: Founding Fathers
1000 farmers likely muttering.....I’ve had that damn weed in my garden for years and have done just about everything to kill it. It’s just another stinkweed.
Similar nomenclature to Milk Thistle (Silybum)
Looks similar but yellow instead of purple…
Unrelated to other poster here:
https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Sil-#:~:text=Etymologyedit%20edit%20source,%2FTHIL%20%22shine%20silver%22.
LOL, Jackie Chiles was hilarious.
It looks a bit like a Queen Anne’s Lace and Dandelion variant.
I would love to get hold of some seeds of that. I’m sure they could be cultivated, it’s just a matter of finding the right technique.
Ancient Plant BUMP!
Looks like broccoli.................
Silphium, also known as silphion, laserwort, or laser, is an unidentified plant that was used in classical antiquity as a seasoning, perfume, aphrodisiac, medicine, and contraceptive by ancient Greeks and Romans. It was the essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore a picture of the plant. The plant was once the most sought-after product in the Mediterranean even before the rise of Athens and the Roman Empire. It oozed with an odiferous sap that was so delicious and useful, the plant was eventually worth its weight in gold.
That’s what I think. Not quite like yarrow, more like Queen Anne’s lace.
Balm of Gilead was recently revived as well too.
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