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Ancient silver coin from Cyrene depicting a stalk of silphium. Silphium (also known as laserwort or laser; Ancient Greek: σίλφιον, sílphion) is an unidentified plant that was used in classical antiquity as a seasoning, perfume, aphrodisiac, and medicine.
Silphium is a genus of North American plants in the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Members of the genus, commonly known as rosinweeds , are herbaceous perennial plants growing to 0.2 m (8 in) to more than 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) tall, with yellow (rarely white) flowerheads that resemble sunflowers .
Cyrene's chief local export through much of its early history was the medicinal herb silphium, which may have been used as an abortifacient; the herb was pictured on most Cyrenian coins. Silphium was in such demand that it was harvested to extinction by the end of the first century BC. [20]
Ferula drudeana is a tall monocarpic herb from around one meter to 2.5 meters high at flowering time. It has stout branching roots resembling ginseng in shape, 3–8 cm in diameter, and having a dense fibrous collar; a grooved stalk and stout striated stems; frond-like basal leaves and pinnate celery-like leaves with a stout basal sheath clasping the stem.
Nevertheless, it could be substituted for silphium in cooking, which was fortunate, because a few decades after Dioscorides' time, the true silphium of Cyrene became extinct, and asafoetida became more popular amongst physicians, as well as cooks. [23] Asafoetida is also mentioned numerous times in Jewish literature, such as the Mishnah. [24]
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Although none of these places are tourism hotspots, it is still good to be wary that these practices still exist and you could be at risk, like this couple who narrowly escaped the Korowai tribe.
Silphium laciniatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known commonly as compassplant [2] or compass plant. It is native to North America, where it occurs in Ontario in Canada and the eastern and central United States as far west as New Mexico . [ 3 ]