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Silphium: Extinct Plant / Ancient Miracle Drug?

MrRING

Android Futureman
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I had never heard of this before - has any medical research been done to look into the veracity of it?

The STORY Linked HERE

SILPHIUM: ANCIENT WONDER DRUG?
by John Tatman

Silphium, also known as silphion or laser, is an extinct plant species of the genus Ferula. It was described as having a thick root, a stalk like fennel, large alternating leaves with leaflets like celery, spherical clusters of small yellow flowers at the top and broad leaf-like, heart-shaped fruit called phyllon. Some of the best known representations of silphium are the stylized images used on the ancient coins of Kyrenaika (modern-day Libya). The plant was valued in ancient times because of its many uses as a food source, seasoning for food, and, most importantly, as a medication. Perfumes were made from the flowers, the stalk was used for food or fodder while the juice and root were used to make a variety of medical potions.

Reported medical uses for the juice included remedies for cough, sore throat, fever, indigestion, fluid retention, seizures, aches and pains. The sap was supposed to be able to remove warts and other growths. In addition, Pliny wrote that silphium could be used for a variety of diverse conditions including treatment of leprosy, to restore hair, cleanse retained afterbirth from the womb and as an antidote for poisons. Potions made from silphium were supposedly among the most effective birth-control methods known at the time. Preparations used for birth control included a tea made from the leaves, a "pea-sized" ball of sap mixed with wine and a suppository containing the juice. The timing of administration suggests it probably functioned as an abortifacient similar to preparations made from related plant species.

Apparently, silphium only grew in a restricted area, approximately 125 miles by 35 miles, on the coastal plateaus of Kyrenaika. The Greeks believed the plant was a gift from Apollo which appeared after a heavy rain storm flooded the area at about the time the city of Kyrene was founded in the seventh century BC. Of course, there is evidence that sliphium was used much earlier in Egypt, Libya and even Greece. Silphium supposedly resisted attempts at cultivation and transplantation, which made it one of the major revenue sources contributing to Kyrenaika's wealth. Pliny described it as "one of the most precious gift from Nature to man." It was considered to be "worth its weight in denarii" during Roman times because of its varied medical uses and scarcity. The plant reportedly became extinct around the first century A.D., perhaps because of overutilization. Other plants, also referred to as "silphium," grow in other locations around the Mediterranean, but were considered to be of inferior quality. As a result, the loss of silphium from Kyrenaika was greatly lamented in Rome.
 
Silphium, also known as silphion or laser, is an extinct plant species of the genus Ferula.

if i'm not mistaken this would make it related to the spice asafoetida, which seems to be named for its smell nearly everywhere it's known ("devil's dung" in much of europe!).

Perfumes were made from the flowers,

one can only hope it's not too closely related to ferula asafoetida.
 
Silphium was the Greek name but the Romans knew it as Laserpithium
whose juice was known as laser. They loved it so much that they gathered
it to extinction: when they discovered the last remaining plant, it was
sent to Nero.

From then on they relied on the inferior Silphium parthicum from Persia and
Armenia. This still exists: we call it asafoetida and Asians call it hing.

Garlic was used by the poor as a substitute for laser but modern Italians
would consider asafoetida inferior to garlic.

- adapted from Patrick Faas: Around the Roman Table, 1994 trans. 2003

I once posted about the use of asafoetida by doctors as a medicine to
discourage malingerers. Later I invested in a jar of the powder and have
used it occasionally in cooking. A pinch of hing and some celery-salt certainly
tasted very pleasant on some fried aubergines. :)
 
There have been reports of it making a comeback in parts of North Africa which are still sewn with mines from WWII. The mines make it too dangerous for grazing animals so Silphium has a chance to recover.
 
Interesting. Makes me wonder if the Soma of the Mahabharata was made from some form of this plant, as it has never been positively identified with any known drug...
 
Did the Ancient Greeks Fuck This Plant Until It Went Extinct?

The plant in question is called silphium, and, in the B.C. years, it grew in the North African city of Cyrene — now the modern day town of Shahhat in Libya. Silphium was used for a number of reasons, but mostly — contrary to the above tweet — for eating purposes.

As BBC Future reports: “Its crunchable stalks were roasted, sauteed, or boiled and eaten as a vegetable. Its roots were eaten fresh, dipped in vinegar. It was an excellent preservative for lentils, and when it was fed to sheep, their flesh became delectably tender. Perfume was coaxed from its delicate blooms, while its sap (known as ‘laser’) was dried and grated liberally over dishes from brains to braised flamingo.”

But it wasn’t just used as food — silphium was hailed as a medical wonder, treating everything from coughs and fevers to indigestion, aches and pains, and even warts. Of course, it was also used in the bedroom, where it was drunk as an aphrodisiac, or eaten as a contraceptive. According to All That’s Interesting: “A single dose of the resin from the plant would induce menstruation, effectively rendering the woman temporarily infertile. If the woman was already pregnant, the induced menstruation would lead to a miscarriage.”

While silphium was likely used for this reason, there’s apparently little evidence to suggest that it was effective as a method of birth control, even if those using it thought it was. In fact, rather than being over-harvested for its contraceptive properties, it’s more probable that the plant became extinct because it was just too tasty to resist — and, no matter how hard they tried, the ancient Greeks and Romans couldn’t figure out how to cultivate it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silphium_(antiquity)

https://apple.news/Aoj_uOrWNQw2JBWxJ4YDi6Q

maximus otter
 
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There is a piece about its apparent rediscovery in this months mag.
 
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