From the Herbal Academy: The Herbs That Got Away - Rediscovering Silphium and Other Missing Historical Plants
This article was published on the Herbal Academy on July 1, 2021.
“You ask, my Lesbia, how many of your kisses are enough and more than enough for me. As big a number as the Libyan grains of sand that lie at silphium-producing Cyrene…”
– Gaius Valerius Catullus (84-54 BCE), Carmen 7
Except from the Herbal Academy: “With a landscape brightened by vivid colors and infused with aromatic scents of ocean and mountains, the ancient Mediterranean region provided a sensational feast for the senses. Many of the historical plants that the various ancient civilizations in this region gathered for food, medicine, and religion remain in use today. Yet, the story of some of these historical plants, for various reasons, ended too soon. Due to extinction or botanical mysteries, there are several historical plants that we can no longer include in our collective materia medica. These historical plants include silphium (Silphion Gr.), moly, and plany plant, known by the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, and Egypt. By exploring the uses of these three plants in antiquity, we can honor their memory and their once-celebrated gifts.”
