Sílphion (Greek pronunciation here) is considered the first plant whose extinction we recorded, in the first century CE. Treasured by the Romans for medicinal use, notably as a contraceptive and abortifacient.
Now someone thinks they found it. 🧪
Link: www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/arti...
Now someone thinks they found it. 🧪
Link: www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/arti...
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?
Silphion cured diseases and made food tasty, but Emperor Nero allegedly consumed the last stalk. Now, a Turkish researcher thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.
www.nationalgeographic.com
August 24, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Sílphion (Greek pronunciation here) is considered the first plant whose extinction we recorded, in the first century CE. Treasured by the Romans for medicinal use, notably as a contraceptive and abortifacient.
Now someone thinks they found it. 🧪
Link: www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/arti...
Now someone thinks they found it. 🧪
Link: www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/arti...
There was also the mysterious silphium, which was thought to be extinct but may have been recently rediscovered
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?
Silphion cured diseases and made food tasty, but Emperor Nero allegedly consumed the last stalk. Now, a Turkish researcher thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.
www.nationalgeographic.com
August 7, 2023 at 12:28 PM
There was also the mysterious silphium, which was thought to be extinct but may have been recently rediscovered
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
more silphium posting - this was an interesting read:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
August 7, 2023 at 12:38 PM
more silphium posting - this was an interesting read:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
Ha! So all I had to do here on Bluesky was search "silphion" only to discover a recent book on this very subject, AND the history behind "the host herb of the ancients". 🤩 Just ordered myself a copy: The Lost Supper, by Taras Grescoe. 🌱 #silphion #silphium #botany #planthistory #PlantSci
I went in search of everything from Aztec caviar to the silphion plant adored by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
@gastronomica.bsky.social
More on The Lost Supper, now out in paperback, here:
www.taras-grescoe.com/the-lost-sup...
@gastronomica.bsky.social
More on The Lost Supper, now out in paperback, here:
www.taras-grescoe.com/the-lost-sup...
January 26, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Ha! So all I had to do here on Bluesky was search "silphion" only to discover a recent book on this very subject, AND the history behind "the host herb of the ancients". 🤩 Just ordered myself a copy: The Lost Supper, by Taras Grescoe. 🌱 #silphion #silphium #botany #planthistory #PlantSci
This story goes into a lot of detail on the current happenings:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?
Silphion cured diseases and made food tasty, but Emperor Nero allegedly consumed the last stalk. Now, a Turkish researcher thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.
www.nationalgeographic.com
August 7, 2023 at 12:37 PM
This story goes into a lot of detail on the current happenings:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
I have been obsessed with this plant since I first heard about it a few years ago: Silphion (also Silphium) aka Ferula drudeana (a new species?) which was thought be be extinct - but now, maybe not! Link to the story, below. (1897 Köhler's Medizinal) 🌱 #botany #planthistory #paleobotany #PlantSci
January 25, 2025 at 9:59 PM
I have been obsessed with this plant since I first heard about it a few years ago: Silphion (also Silphium) aka Ferula drudeana (a new species?) which was thought be be extinct - but now, maybe not! Link to the story, below. (1897 Köhler's Medizinal) 🌱 #botany #planthistory #paleobotany #PlantSci
For those playing at home, silphium/silphion was a plant used as medicine, flavouring, etc., in the ancient Mediterranean region. New claims of silphium discoveries are problematic because there are no examples for comparison. A fascinating ancient ingredient. #foodhistory #foodarchaeology #extinct
A prophecy give to the King of Thera from the Delphi oracle, led to the creation of a colony in Libya...rich this became and prosperous from the trade of Silphion...
open.spotify.com/episode/3WUr...
open.spotify.com/episode/3WUr...
The curious search for Cyrenaic Silphium
The Delicious Legacy · Episode
open.spotify.com
January 7, 2025 at 8:19 AM
For those playing at home, silphium/silphion was a plant used as medicine, flavouring, etc., in the ancient Mediterranean region. New claims of silphium discoveries are problematic because there are no examples for comparison. A fascinating ancient ingredient. #foodhistory #foodarchaeology #extinct
Sadly this source is paywalled now but they rediscovered silphium and it probably wasn't very effective as birth control.
April 30, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Sadly this source is paywalled now but they rediscovered silphium and it probably wasn't very effective as birth control.
I went in search of everything from Aztec caviar to the silphion plant adored by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
@gastronomica.bsky.social
More on The Lost Supper, now out in paperback, here:
www.taras-grescoe.com/the-lost-sup...
@gastronomica.bsky.social
More on The Lost Supper, now out in paperback, here:
www.taras-grescoe.com/the-lost-sup...
December 28, 2024 at 7:14 PM
I went in search of everything from Aztec caviar to the silphion plant adored by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
@gastronomica.bsky.social
More on The Lost Supper, now out in paperback, here:
www.taras-grescoe.com/the-lost-sup...
@gastronomica.bsky.social
More on The Lost Supper, now out in paperback, here:
www.taras-grescoe.com/the-lost-sup...
which fun fact seems to have been rediscovered, or, at least something extremely close to it
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?
Silphion cured diseases and made food tasty, but Emperor Nero allegedly consumed the last stalk. Now, a Turkish researcher thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.
www.nationalgeographic.com
August 1, 2023 at 12:41 AM
which fun fact seems to have been rediscovered, or, at least something extremely close to it
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
A sort of Lazarus taxon story (hopefully not Elvis taxon...)
"Pliny the Elder in his Natural History claims that “just 1 stalk has been found” of the plant in the 1st century A.D...historians believed the disappearance of silphion to be the 1st recorded extinction of any species, plant, or animal."
"Pliny the Elder in his Natural History claims that “just 1 stalk has been found” of the plant in the 1st century A.D...historians believed the disappearance of silphion to be the 1st recorded extinction of any species, plant, or animal."
BIG if true! Silphium, thought to have been harvested to extinction by the Romans, (possibly) rediscovered in Turkey. greekreporter.com/2023/08/13/p...
Miracle Plant Used in Ancient Greece Rediscovered After 2,000 Years
Ancient Greeks used a 'miracle' plant called Silphium, which was thought to have gone extinct 2,000 years ago, has now been rediscovered.
greekreporter.com
September 4, 2023 at 10:52 AM
A sort of Lazarus taxon story (hopefully not Elvis taxon...)
"Pliny the Elder in his Natural History claims that “just 1 stalk has been found” of the plant in the 1st century A.D...historians believed the disappearance of silphion to be the 1st recorded extinction of any species, plant, or animal."
"Pliny the Elder in his Natural History claims that “just 1 stalk has been found” of the plant in the 1st century A.D...historians believed the disappearance of silphion to be the 1st recorded extinction of any species, plant, or animal."
I was about to object to this in fairly strong terms, and then I remembered that my friends and relations are BY NO MEANS a representative sample of "people". I'm still sad that I'll never taste silphium.
(posted while working a shift in my friend's classics-focused bookshop)
(posted while working a shift in my friend's classics-focused bookshop)
Spice Pages: Silphion (Silphium)
Informative article about the spice Silphion, its botany, chemistry, history and cross-cultural culinary usage.
gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com
April 12, 2024 at 11:38 AM
I was about to object to this in fairly strong terms, and then I remembered that my friends and relations are BY NO MEANS a representative sample of "people". I'm still sad that I'll never taste silphium.
(posted while working a shift in my friend's classics-focused bookshop)
(posted while working a shift in my friend's classics-focused bookshop)
Okay, can we just acknowledge how terrible a name laserwort is for anything. Real sub-Blake's 7 stuff. Oh, watch out, laserwort!
(On the other hand, I guess trans girls 'going for laser' has a longer history than expected.)
(On the other hand, I guess trans girls 'going for laser' has a longer history than expected.)
November 18, 2024 at 7:52 PM
Okay, can we just acknowledge how terrible a name laserwort is for anything. Real sub-Blake's 7 stuff. Oh, watch out, laserwort!
(On the other hand, I guess trans girls 'going for laser' has a longer history than expected.)
(On the other hand, I guess trans girls 'going for laser' has a longer history than expected.)
I’ve become incredibly invested in the saga of Silphium/Silphion, the popular medicinal plant of antiquity that was long thought to be the first plant or animal extinction in recorded history. But it might not be extinct! But we’ll probably never know for sure! There’s so much to this story !!
May 8, 2024 at 1:07 PM
I’ve become incredibly invested in the saga of Silphium/Silphion, the popular medicinal plant of antiquity that was long thought to be the first plant or animal extinction in recorded history. But it might not be extinct! But we’ll probably never know for sure! There’s so much to this story !!
it may still exist
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?
Silphion cured diseases and made food tasty, but Emperor Nero allegedly consumed the last stalk. Now, a Turkish researcher thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.
www.nationalgeographic.com
February 6, 2026 at 6:49 AM
it may still exist
A prophecy give to the King of Thera from the Delphi oracle, led to the creation of a colony in Libya...rich this became and prosperous from the trade of Silphion...
open.spotify.com/episode/3WUr...
open.spotify.com/episode/3WUr...
The curious search for Cyrenaic Silphium
The Delicious Legacy · Episode
open.spotify.com
January 6, 2025 at 11:46 PM
A prophecy give to the King of Thera from the Delphi oracle, led to the creation of a colony in Libya...rich this became and prosperous from the trade of Silphion...
open.spotify.com/episode/3WUr...
open.spotify.com/episode/3WUr...
샤이앤님이 실피움 얘기 하셔서 생각난 기사. 실피움은 고대 로마인들이 정말 좋아했던 향신료지만 1세기경 멸종했는데, 터키에 수백 포기 정도 남아있는 Ferula drudeana가 살아남은 실피움의 후손이라는 설이 있다. 위치가 워낙 다르다 보니 이게 실피움이 맞는지는 아직 논란이 있지만... 기사 결론이 "어쨌든 먹어 봤더니 맛있음" 으로 흘러가기 때문에 굉장히 먹어보고 싶어진다...!
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?
Silphion cured diseases and made food tasty, but Emperor Nero allegedly consumed the last stalk. Now, a Turkish researcher thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.
www.nationalgeographic.com
March 15, 2024 at 2:53 PM
샤이앤님이 실피움 얘기 하셔서 생각난 기사. 실피움은 고대 로마인들이 정말 좋아했던 향신료지만 1세기경 멸종했는데, 터키에 수백 포기 정도 남아있는 Ferula drudeana가 살아남은 실피움의 후손이라는 설이 있다. 위치가 워낙 다르다 보니 이게 실피움이 맞는지는 아직 논란이 있지만... 기사 결론이 "어쨌든 먹어 봤더니 맛있음" 으로 흘러가기 때문에 굉장히 먹어보고 싶어진다...!
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
Yes, yes, medicinal is important and all that but silphion was a prized seasoning, and this stuff is DELICIOUS according to the test cooking. Get multiplying the plant! Please?
(There are worries about the endangered species as a condiment, but we can solve that, right? <salivates> 😉)
(There are worries about the endangered species as a condiment, but we can solve that, right? <salivates> 😉)
Sílphion (Greek pronunciation here) is considered the first plant whose extinction we recorded, in the first century CE. Treasured by the Romans for medicinal use, notably as a contraceptive and abortifacient.
Now someone thinks they found it. 🧪
Link: www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/arti...
Now someone thinks they found it. 🧪
Link: www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/arti...
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?
Silphion cured diseases and made food tasty, but Emperor Nero allegedly consumed the last stalk. Now, a Turkish researcher thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.
www.nationalgeographic.com
August 24, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Yes, yes, medicinal is important and all that but silphion was a prized seasoning, and this stuff is DELICIOUS according to the test cooking. Get multiplying the plant! Please?
(There are worries about the endangered species as a condiment, but we can solve that, right? <salivates> 😉)
(There are worries about the endangered species as a condiment, but we can solve that, right? <salivates> 😉)
#AventNumismatique J15 : Cyrène.
Fondée sur les plateaux libyens en 631 av JC, cette cité représentait sur ses monnaies la plante qui avait assuré sa fortune : le silphion (ou silphium). Véritable panacée antique, elle fut tant surexploitée qu'elle disparut au Ier s AD.
Drachme d'or de 322-308 av JC
Fondée sur les plateaux libyens en 631 av JC, cette cité représentait sur ses monnaies la plante qui avait assuré sa fortune : le silphion (ou silphium). Véritable panacée antique, elle fut tant surexploitée qu'elle disparut au Ier s AD.
Drachme d'or de 322-308 av JC
December 15, 2023 at 4:49 PM
#AventNumismatique J15 : Cyrène.
Fondée sur les plateaux libyens en 631 av JC, cette cité représentait sur ses monnaies la plante qui avait assuré sa fortune : le silphion (ou silphium). Véritable panacée antique, elle fut tant surexploitée qu'elle disparut au Ier s AD.
Drachme d'or de 322-308 av JC
Fondée sur les plateaux libyens en 631 av JC, cette cité représentait sur ses monnaies la plante qui avait assuré sa fortune : le silphion (ou silphium). Véritable panacée antique, elle fut tant surexploitée qu'elle disparut au Ier s AD.
Drachme d'or de 322-308 av JC
oooh, if you like that, check out Silphium! It's thought that the herb long considered to be extinct has been recently rediscovered (due in no small part to the accessibility of information that folks like Max lend; if there's something you love, share it!) lostsupper.substack.com/p/the-holy-g...
The Holy Grail of Food History—Rediscovered (Pt. 1)
The Story of Our Quest for Silphion, the Lost Herb of the Ancients
lostsupper.substack.com
January 27, 2025 at 3:41 PM
oooh, if you like that, check out Silphium! It's thought that the herb long considered to be extinct has been recently rediscovered (due in no small part to the accessibility of information that folks like Max lend; if there's something you love, share it!) lostsupper.substack.com/p/the-holy-g...
Selon Pline, le tout dernier plant fut donné à Néron.
En se fondant sur les différentes descriptions antiques et sur les représentations figurées (dont la drachme ci-dessus), les botanistes ont régulièrement essayé de la classer: était-ce une espèce de férule ? Disparu, le silphion reste un mystère.
En se fondant sur les différentes descriptions antiques et sur les représentations figurées (dont la drachme ci-dessus), les botanistes ont régulièrement essayé de la classer: était-ce une espèce de férule ? Disparu, le silphion reste un mystère.
December 15, 2023 at 5:10 PM
Selon Pline, le tout dernier plant fut donné à Néron.
En se fondant sur les différentes descriptions antiques et sur les représentations figurées (dont la drachme ci-dessus), les botanistes ont régulièrement essayé de la classer: était-ce une espèce de férule ? Disparu, le silphion reste un mystère.
En se fondant sur les différentes descriptions antiques et sur les représentations figurées (dont la drachme ci-dessus), les botanistes ont régulièrement essayé de la classer: était-ce une espèce de férule ? Disparu, le silphion reste un mystère.
There’s a chance we have! Other types of silphium have been found, but so far tests are focused on their use in cooking. I want to see clinical trials on contraceptive properties! https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?
Silphion cured diseases and made food tasty, but Emperor Nero allegedly consumed the last stalk. Now, a Turkish researcher thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.
www.nationalgeographic.com
February 12, 2024 at 5:36 PM
There’s a chance we have! Other types of silphium have been found, but so far tests are focused on their use in cooking. I want to see clinical trials on contraceptive properties! https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion
To be taken with the mandatory grain of salt, of course - lacking (afaik) any corresponding archaeobotanical #silphium finds makes an exact identification not particularly easier …
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?
Silphion cured diseases and made food tasty, but Emperor Nero allegedly consumed the last stalk. Now, a Turkish researcher thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.
www.nationalgeographic.com
September 13, 2023 at 3:35 PM
To be taken with the mandatory grain of salt, of course - lacking (afaik) any corresponding archaeobotanical #silphium finds makes an exact identification not particularly easier …
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
Some sources argue that asafetida was rather similar in taste and that once sílphion became unavailable, it was used as a replacement.
August 24, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Some sources argue that asafetida was rather similar in taste and that once sílphion became unavailable, it was used as a replacement.