Silphium - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

The plant’s exact identity is unknown to this day, since it went extinct in Roman times. It was a major cash crop of Cyrene, Libya, and even depicted on coins. It was used as seasoning, perfume, aphrodisiac, contraceptive and abortifacient. The last specimen was supposedly given to Emperor Nero.

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    Supposedly, it isn’t extinct. There has been word that the plant was found growing somewhere, Turkey maybe? I’ll go look after I hit send on this, but it matches all the descriptions.

    • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
      0·
      2 days ago

      However, F. drudeana belongs to a lineage from the southern Caspian Sea region, with no known connection to Eastern Libya.

      A criticism of this hypothesis centers on geographic ranges: silphium grew in North Africa while F. drudeana is native to Turkey. A 2018 study resolved F. drudeana as a narrowly endemic species restricted to a tiny range in Turkey’s Adana and Kayseri Provinces, descended from Central Asian Ferula, and having no connection to North Africa. All previously studied North African Ferula belong to a well-distinct and monophyletic group containing the widespread Ferula communis and its more localized relatives from the Western and Central Mediterranean; there is no indication that any other lineage of Ferula ever occurred west of the Aegean/Black Sea region. Miski’s 2021 paper does not address evidence for F. drudeana having originated in the southern Caspian Sea region.

      Another criticism focuses on the 2021 paper’s methodology, which does not account for observations about Ferula which were published in 2008. Morphological studies could misleadingly suggest a relationship with silphium, as the external appearance of Ferula varies highly within clades: individuals within the Ferula genus often resemble unrelated species rather than closely related species. Similarly, evidence in the form of folk medicine uses is — at best — an equivocal indicator.