Here's a two minute excerpt from the latest episode of the pod about Silphium, Cyrene, and the earliest reference in the ancient Greek world! Listen to the whole episode on Apple pods, rate &review!
Extinct, or we have misunderstood?

#podcast #ancientgreece #cyrenaica
#cyrene #silphium #asafoetida

The ancient Greek city of Cyrene, in Libya was founded by colonists from Thera, modern day Santorini. The story of Cyrene and how it grew rich and prosperous from Silphium trade is out now on all podcast platforms. Listen now!
#podcast #ancientgreece #silphium #asafoetida

Two thousand years ago Emperor Nero allegedly ate the last bit of silphium! Or did he?
Listen here and find out!

shows.acast.com/the-deliciou...

#podcast #ancientgreece #ancientrome #ancientfood #cyrene #silphium

DYK where the heart as a symbol of love came from? Long before the Pill, many ancient women used heart-shaped seeds of #silphium for #BirthControl? The beautiful goddess associated w/silphium was Cyrene, who inspired Apollo’s love. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #GenderHistory

Silphium or Compass plant, a large sunflower relative with yellow flowers. Flowering next to it is Great Blue Lobelia siphilitica.

🌱 eastern #native Compass Plant #Silphium perfoliatum with Great Blue Lobelia siphiliticum

The curious search for Cyrenaic Silphium - The most elusive of ancient spices | The Delicious Legacy Get more from The Delicious Legacy on Patreon

www.patreon.com/posts/curiou...

#podcast #silphium #patreon #history #foodhistory #historypodcast

GreekReporter.com - Greek News from Greece and the World Greek news from Greece and the world, get the latest updates on business, economy, Greek travel, recipes, Ancient Greek culture and more.

Miracle #Plant Used in Ancient #Greece Rediscovered After 2,000 Years
Source: GreekReporter.com
#Silphium
greekreporter.com/2025/08/21/p...

Sunny woodland setting of golden mini Silphium / Compass plant sun flowers on tall stems with bold paired leaves next to a young Ginkgo tree.

🌱 #Silphium / Prairie dock with a young #Ginkgo tree

A pale yellow flower with buds and soft fuzzy leaves of Silphium mohrii.

🌱 local s.e. #native #Silphium mohrii / Shaggy Rosinweed tolerates dry conditions. Zone 5.

Meet Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum), a native water fountain for pollinators. Still waiting on this sunflower relative to bloom, but the leaves are showy most of the year. Their shape holds small pools of water #cupplant #silphiumperfoliatum #silphium #waterfountain

Simpson's Rosinweed has long stemmed yellow daisylike flowers above Docklike foliage.

#native #Silphium astericus v. simpsonii / Rosinweed from piedmont and Gulf of Mexico coastal areas.

DYK abortion's history is as long as humankind's? Women in the ancient world paid its weight in silver for #silphium, which they used so much for #abortion, #BirthControl & emergency birth control that it became extinct! HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #SCOTUSisTooCatholic

So excited for when the semester is over and I can draw more seriously this summer #unicorn #dndoc #silphium

Copy of an ancient coin of Kyrenica showing a giant fennel or silphium on the reverse.

Modern re-strike of #ancient Kyrenican #coin. Reverse shows a #Silphium or giant Fennel.

Which means that with some dedicated effort, it's entirely possible to bring back a legendary ancient spice! I am low-key obsessed with this and wish I could convince someone to popularize and fund this. #palynology #silphium #Cyreniaca

#Silphium: "Die Pflanze ist vermutlich bereits in der Antike ausgestorben. Plinius der Ältere nennt die Pflanze Laserpitium und den Saft Laser; zu seiner Zeit war diese berühmteste Pflanze des Altertums schon so selten, dass der Saft mit Silberdenaren aufgewogen wurde." (Wiki)

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

We all know the emoji, but did you know it once symbolised syphilis? The history of the broken heart The heartbreak emoji is a near-universal symbol, but it hasn't always been that way. So how else was heartbreak depicted in art, and where did our modern version come from?

💔 We all know the symbol of the broken heart, but where did it come from? Art history has some answers - by Mary McGillivray @ ABC Arts www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06... #silphium

We do, fwiw, however have (next to those descriptions by Herodotus, Pausanias, Theophrastus, Pliny, and the like) at least these #silphium depictions on #Cyrenian coins. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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...

"Just one stalk has been found and it has been given to Emperor Nero", Pliny the Elder put down the last documented account of the #silphium.

Thought extinct, the golden-flowered "miracle" plant app. has been rediscovered in...