View source for Silphium

{{short description|Extinct plant used as a seasoning and medicine}}
{{about|the plant that was used in classical antiquity|the modern genus of plants|Silphium (genus){{!}}''Silphium'' (genus)}}
{{Distinguish|Silpium}}
[[File:Silphium.jpg|thumb|right|Ancient silver coin from Cyrene depicting a stalk of silphium]]
'''Silphium''' (also known as '''''laserwort''''' or '''''laser'''''; [[Ancient Greek]]: {{wikt-lang|grc|σίλφιον}}, {{translit|grc|sílphion}}) is an unidentified plant that was used in [[classical antiquity]] as a seasoning, perfume, [[aphrodisiac]], and medicine.<ref name="Tatman"/><ref name="BBC2017">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170907-the-mystery-of-the-lost-roman-herb |title=The mystery of the lost Roman herb |year=2017 |work=BBC |author=Zaria Gorvett |access-date=2018-08-27 |archive-date=2018-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517015519/http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170907-the-mystery-of-the-lost-roman-herb |url-status=live }}</ref>
It was the essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]], and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their [[coin]]s bore a picture of the plant. The valuable product was the plant's [[resin]], called in Latin '''''[[wikt:laserpicium|laserpicium]]''''', '''''lasarpicium''''' or ''laser'' (the words ''[[Laserpitium]]'' and ''[[Laser (plant)|Laser]]'' were used by botanists to name [[genera]] of aromatic plants, but the silphium plant is not believed to belong to these genera).
The exact identity of silphium is unclear. It was claimed to have become extinct in Roman times.<ref name="PlinyXIX"/> It is commonly believed to be a relative of [[giant fennel]] in the [[genus]] ''[[Ferula]]''.<ref name="Tatman">{{cite journal |first1=J.L. |last1=Tatman |title=Silphium, Silver and Strife: A History of Kyrenaika and Its Coinage |journal=Celator |volume=14 |issue=10 |date=October 2000 |pages=6–24}}</ref><ref name="Straight Dope">[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/061013.html ''Did the ancient Romans use a natural herb for birth control?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061027000920/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/061013.html |date=2006-10-27 }}, [[The Straight Dope]],  October 13, 2006</ref><ref name="National Geographic">{{cite news |last=Grescoe |first=Taras |date=23 September 2022 |title=This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it? |work=[[National Geographic]] |location= |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion |access-date=26 September 2022 |archive-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925230246/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion |url-status=dead }}</ref> The extant plant ''[[Thapsia gummifera]]''<ref name="Amigues">{{cite journal |last1=Amigues |first1=Suzanne |title=Le silphium - État de la question |trans-title=Silphium - State of the art |language=fr |journal=Journal des Savants |date=2004 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=191–226 |doi=10.3406/jds.2004.1685}}</ref> has been suggested as another possibility. Another theory is that it was simply a high quality variety of [[asafoetida]], a common spice in the Roman Empire. The two spices were considered the same by many Romans including the geographer [[Strabo]].{{sfn|Dalby|2000|p=18}}
Silphium was considered invaluable by all who held it. The BBC reports that the plant was sung about in Roman poems and songs, who considered it equivalent to its weight in gold.<ref name="BBC2017" /> Historically, [[Pliny the Elder]] blamed silphium's valuation on "tax-farmers," and Julius Caesar directly registered silphium as "1500 pounds of laser" in the Roman treasury.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parejko |first=Ken |date=2003-05-29 |title=Pliny the Elder's Silphium: First Recorded Species Extinction |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02067.x |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=925–927 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02067.x |bibcode=2003ConBi..17..925P |issn=0888-8892}}</ref>
==Identity and extinction==
[[File:Magas as Ptolemaic governor, first reign, circa 300-282 or 275 BC Didrachm.jpg|thumb|A coin of [[Magas of Cyrene]] {{circa|300–282/75 BC}}. Reverse: silphium and small crab symbols.]]
The identity of silphium is highly debated. Without a surviving sample, no genetic analysis can be made. It is generally considered to belong to the genus ''[[Ferula]]'', as an extinct or living species. The currently extant plants ''[[Thapsia gummifera]]'',<ref name="Amigues"/> ''[[Ferula tingitana]]'', ''[[Ferula narthex]]'', ''[[Ferula drudeana]]'', and ''[[Thapsia garganica]]'' have been suggested as possible identities.<ref name="Tatman"/><ref name="Straight Dope"/><ref name="National Geographic" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Andrews |first1=Alfred C. |title=The Silphium of the Ancients: A Lesson in Crop Control |journal=Isis |date=1941 |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=232–236 |doi=10.1086/358541 |jstor=330743 |s2cid=144108503}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parejko |first1=K |year=2003 |title=Pliny the Elder's Silphium: First Recorded Species Extinction |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=925–927 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02067.x |bibcode=2003ConBi..17..925P |s2cid=84007922}}</ref> ''[[Ferula drudeana]]'', an endemic species found in Turkey, is a candidate for silphium based on similarity of appearance in descriptions and production of a spice-like gum-resin with supposedly similar properties to silphium.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Miski |first=Mahmut |date=2021-01-06 |title=Next Chapter in the Legend of Silphion: Preliminary Morphological, Chemical, Biological and Pharmacological Evaluations, Initial Conservation Studies, and Reassessment of the Regional Extinction Event |journal=Plants |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=102 |doi=10.3390/plants10010102 |issn=2223-7747 |pmc=7825337 |pmid=33418989|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="National Geographic" /> However, ''F. drudeana'' belongs to a lineage from the southern Caspian Sea region, with no known connection to Eastern Libya.<ref name = sb2018>{{cite journal |title=Phylogenetic positions of seven poorly known species of ''Ferula'' (Apiaceae) with remarks on the phylogenetic utility of the plastid ''TRNH-psbA, TRNS-TRNG'', and ''atpB-RBCL'' intergenic spacers |year=2018 |last1=Piwczyński |first1=Marcin |last2=Wyborska |first2=Dominika |last3=Gołębiewska |first3=Joanna |last4=Puchałka |first4=Radosław |journal=Systematics and Biodiversity |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=428–440 |url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/6015386  |doi=10.1080/14772000.2018.1442374 |bibcode=2018SyBio..16..428P |s2cid=90391176 }}</ref>
[[Theophrastus]] mentioned silphium as having thick roots covered in black bark, about one [[cubit]] (48&nbsp;cm) long, with a hollow stalk, similar to [[fennel]], and golden leaves, like celery.<ref name="BBC2017"/>
[[File:Weighing and loading of Silphium at Cyrene. Wellcome L0002417.jpg|thumb|Weighing and loading of silphium at Cyrene]]
The disappearance of silphium is considered the first extinction of a plant or animal species in recorded history.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Grescoe |first1=Taras |title=Eat the past to preserve the future |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-to-save-the-future-from-food-insecurity-we-should-look-to-cuisine-of/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=6 March 2024 |date=15 September 2023}}</ref> The cause of silphium's supposed extinction is not entirely known but numerous factors are suggested. Silphium had a remarkably narrow native range, about {{convert|125|by|35|mi}}, in the southern steppe of [[Cyrenaica]] (present-day eastern [[Libya]]).<ref>"Off this tract is the island of Platea, which the Cyrenaeans colonized. Here too, upon the mainland, are Port Menelaus, and Aziris, where the Cyrenaeans once lived. The Silphium begins to grow in this region, extending from the island of Platea on the one side to the [[Gulf of Sidra|mouth of the Syrtis]] on the other." (Herodotus, iv.168–198 [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/herod-libya1.html on-line text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409023843/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/herod-libya1.html |date=2013-04-09 }})</ref> [[Overgrazing]] combined with [[overharvesting]] have long been cited as the primary factors that led to its extinction.<ref name="PlinyXIX">Pliny, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+19.15 XIX, Ch.15] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928142511/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plin.+Nat.+19.15&redirect=true |date=2022-09-28 }}</ref> However, recent research has challenged this notion, arguing instead that [[desertification]] in ancient Cyrenaica was the primary driver of silphium's decline.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pollaro |first1=Paul |last2=Robertson |first2=Paul |date=2022 |title=Reassessing the Role of Anthropogenic Climate Change in the Extinction of Silphium |journal=Frontiers in Conservation Science |volume=2 |doi=10.3389/fcosc.2021.785962 |issn=2673-611X|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Another theory is that when [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] provincial governors took over power from Greek colonists, they over-farmed silphium and rendered the soil unable to yield the type that was said to be of such medicinal value. [[Theophrastus]] wrote in [[Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus)|''Enquiry into Plants'']] that the type of ''Ferula'' specifically referred to as "silphium" was odd in that it could not be [[Horticulture|cultivated]].<ref>Theophrastus, III.2.1, VI.3.3</ref> He reports inconsistencies in the information he received about this, however.<ref>Theophrastus, VI.3.5</ref> This could suggest the plant is similarly sensitive to soil chemistry as [[huckleberries]] which, when grown from seed, are devoid of fruit.<ref name="BBC2017"/>
Similar to the soil theory, another theory holds that the plant was a [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]], which often results in very desired traits in the [[F1 hybrid|first generation]], but [[F2 hybrid|second-generation]] can yield very unpredictable outcomes. This could have resulted in plants without fruits, when planted from seeds, instead of asexually reproducing through their roots.<ref name="BBC2017"/>
[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] reported that the last known stalk of silphium found in Cyrenaica was given to Emperor [[Nero]] "as a curiosity".<ref name="PlinyXIX"/>
==Ancient medicine==
Many medical uses were ascribed to the plant.<ref name="PlinyXXII">Pliny, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+22.49 XXII, Ch. 49] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228025055/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+22.49 |date=2007-12-28 }}</ref> It was said that it could be used to treat cough, sore throat, [[fever]], indigestion, aches and pains, [[warts]], and all kinds of maladies.
[[Hippocrates]] wrote:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/fistulae.mb.txt |title=On Fistulae, Section 9 |author=[[Hippocrates]], Translated by Francis Adams |access-date=2012-03-25 |archive-date=2012-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603172010/http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/fistulae.mb.txt |url-status=live }}</ref>
<blockquote>When the gut protrudes and will not remain in its place, scrape the finest and most compact silphium into small pieces and apply as a [[cataplasm]].</blockquote>
The plant may also have functioned as a [[contraceptive]] and [[abortifacient]].<ref name="Straight Dope"/><ref name=Riddle>{{cite book |last1=Riddle |first1=John M. |title=Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance |date=1992 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-16876-3 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1vS85LtlsnIC&pg=PA58 |access-date=2021-09-03 |archive-date=2021-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903210643/https://books.google.com/books?id=1vS85LtlsnIC&pg=PA58 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Culinary uses==
<!-- {{Expand section|date=March 2012}} -->
Silphium was used in Graeco-Roman cooking, notably in recipes presented in [[Apicius]]. Some historians have suggested that its use, particularly in the North African region of its origin, was extensive:<blockquote>Not quite as ubiquitous as [[Garum|liquamen]], but just as necessary in the Roman kitchen, was the herb silphium...Life in Cyrenaica revolved around [silphium] to such an extent that the dramatist Antiphanes, in the fourth century BC, made one of his characters groan: "I will not sail back to the place from which we were all carried away, for I want to say goodbye to all—horses, silphium, chariots, silphium stalks, steeple-chasers, silphium leaves, and silphium juice!"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tannahill |first=Reay |title=Food in History |publisher=Stein and Day |year=1973 |isbn=0-8128-1437-1 |location=New York |pages=99}}</ref></blockquote>Long after its claimed extinction, silphium continued to be mentioned in lists of aromatics copied one from another, until it makes perhaps its last appearance in the list of spices that the [[Carolingian]] cook should have at hand—{{lang|la|Brevis pimentorum que in domo esse debeant}} ("A short list of condiments that should be in the home")—by a certain "[[Vinidarius]]", whose excerpts of ''Apicius''{{efn|A generic term for a cookery book, as "Webster" is of American dictionaries.}} survive in one 8th-century [[uncial]] manuscript. Vinidarius's dates may not be much earlier.<ref>Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, Anthea Bell, tr. ''The History of Food'', revised ed. 2009, p. 434.</ref>
==Hieroglyphs and symbols for silphium==
[[File:Silphium, Evans, The Palace of Minos at Knossos, 1921.png|alt=Evans's 1921 description of silphium hieroglphys at Knossos|thumb|Evans's 1921 description of silphium hieroglphys at [[Knossos]]]]
The Minoans probably used silphium as the visual reference for the hieroglyph ''psi'' (<span style="background-color: white;">[[File:Greek Psi straight.svg|15px|]]</span>), meaning "plant." It resembles a central shoot flanked by two stalks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Arthur |url=http://archive.org/details/cu31924081667796 |title=The palace of Minos : a comparative account of the successive stages of the early Cretan civilization as illustrated by the discoveries at Knossos |date=1921 |publisher=London : Macmillan and Co. |others=Cornell University Library |pages=§92, pp. 215-6}}</ref> Minoan fetishes with this geometry are known as [[Psi and phi type figurine|psi and phi type figurines]], and are also designed for their letter-like shape. This glylph developed into the modern greek [[Psi (Greek)|psi]] ('''Ψ)'''.
Egyptian hieroglyphs for Libyan silphium have also been documented in archeological publications as a balm ingredient that must be dehulled and which produces a sap. In one record, it appears similar to the [[Branch (hieroglyph)|hieroglyph for branch (𓆱)]] written to be read from left-to-right.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fritschy |first=Wantje |date=June 2021 |title=A New Interpretation of the Early Dynastic so-called 'Year' Labels. 'Balm Labels' and the Preservation of the Memory of the King |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |language=en |volume=107 |issue=1–2 |pages=207–224 |doi=10.1177/03075133211060366 |issn=0307-5133|doi-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:Cyrenecoin.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Ancient Cyrenean silver coin depicting a silphium seed or fruit]]
There has been some speculation about the connection between silphium and the traditional [[Heart symbol|heart shape]] (<big>'''♥'''</big>).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Favorito |first1=E. N. |last2=Baty |first2=K. |date=February 1995 |title=The Silphium Connection |journal=Celator |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=6–8}}</ref> Silver coins from Cyrene of the 6th–5th centuries BCE bear a similar design, sometimes accompanied by a silphium plant, and is understood to represent its seed or fruit.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=T. V. |last1=Buttrey |authorlink1=Theodore V. Buttrey Jr. |url=https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-coins-and-the-cult/|title=The Coins and the Cult |journal=Expedition |volume=34 |issue=1–2 |date=1992 |pages=59–66 |access-date=2021-09-03 |archive-date=2021-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903165330/https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-coins-and-the-cult/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Some plants in the family [[Apiaceae]], such as ''[[Heracleum sphondylium]]'', have heart-shaped [[indehiscent mericarp]]s (a type of fruit).[[File:Illustration Heracleum sphondylium0.jpg|thumb|right|Drawing of ''[[Heracleum sphondylium]]'', showing its heart-shaped [[mericarp]]]]Contemporary writings help tie silphium to [[Human sexuality|sexuality]] and love.  Silphium appears in [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias']] ''Description of Greece'' in a story of the [[Dioscuri]] staying at a house belonging to Phormion, a [[Sparta]]n:
{{Blockquote|For it so happened that his maiden daughter was living in it. By the next day this maiden and all her girlish apparel had disappeared, and in the room were found images of the Dioscuri, a table, and silphium upon it.<ref name="Pausanias3.16.3">Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=3:chapter=16&highlight=silphium 3.16.3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225082854/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=3:chapter=16&highlight=silphium |date=2021-02-25 }}</ref>}}
Silphium as ''laserpicium'' makes an appearance in a poem ([[wikibooks:The Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus/7#Text & Translation|Catullus 7]]) of [[Catullus]] to his lover [[Lesbia]] (though others have suggested that the reference here is instead to silphium's use as a treatment for mental illness, tying it to the "madness of love"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moorhouse |first1=A. C. |title=Two Adjectives in Catullus, 7 |journal=The American Journal of Philology |date=1963 |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=417–418 |doi=10.2307/293237 |jstor=293237}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bertman |first1=Stephen |title=Oral Imagery In Catullus 7 |journal=The Classical Quarterly |date=December 1978 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=477–478 |doi=10.1017/S0009838800035060 |s2cid=170172017}}</ref>).
{{clear|left}}
==Heraldry==
In the [[Italian military]] [[heraldry]], {{lang|it|Il silfio d'oro reciso di Cirenaica}} ("Silphium of Cyrenaica, smoothly cut and printed in gold; in [[blazon]]: ''silphium [[wikt:couped|couped]] [[Or (heraldry)|or]] of Cyrenaica''") is the symbol granted to units that distinguished themselves in the [[Western Desert Campaign]] in North Africa during World War II.<ref>"Si distinsero i soldati del 28° Reggimento Fanteria "Pavia" il cui scudo reca nel terzo quarto una pianta di silfio d'oro reciso e sormontata da una stella d'argento"." (Gaetano Arena, ''Inter eximia naturae dona: il silfio cirenaico fra ellenismo e tarda antichità'', 2008:13</ref>
<gallery>
Araldiz silfio.png              |Italian [[coat of arms]] {{lang|it|Il silfio d'oro reciso di Cirenaica}}
Coat of arms of Lybia (1940).svg|Silphium depicted on the arms of [[Italian Libya]]
</gallery>
==In popular culture==
Characters in [[Lindsey Davis]]'s 1998 historical crime novel ''[[Two for the Lions]]'' travel from Rome to North Africa in search of Silphium.<ref>{{cite web |title=Two for the Lions |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lindsey-davis/two-for-the-lions/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=19 March 2024 |language=en |date=1999 | quote=exploring the hills and towns along the African coast ... searching for the herb silphium, a gold mine if found}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Necropolis of Cyrene]]
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist}}
===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last=Dalby |first=Andrew |title=Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices |publisher=University of California Press |year=2000 |isbn=9780520227897 |url=https://archive.org/details/dangeroustastess0000dalb}}
* Herodotus. ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0126 The Histories]''. II:161, 181, III:131, IV:150–65, 200–05.
* Pausanias. ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Description of Greece]'' 3.16.1–3
* Pliny the Elder. ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+toc Natural History]''. XIX:15 and XXII:100–06.
* {{cite web |last=Tatman |first=John |title=Silphium: Ancient wonder drug? |work=Jencek's Ancient Coins & Antiquities |url=http://ancient-coins.com/resourcedetail.asp?rsc=8 |access-date=2007-02-05 |archive-date=2007-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070330044239/http://ancient-coins.com/resourcedetail.asp?rsc=8 |url-status=dead }}
* Theophrastus. ''[[Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus)|Enquiry into plants]] and minor works on odours and weather signs, with an English translation by Sir Arthur Hort, bart (1916)''. [https://archive.org/stream/enquiryintoplan04theogoog#page/n202/mode/2up Volume 1 (Books I–V)] and [https://archive.org/details/enquiryintoplant02theouoft Volume 2 (Books VI–IX)] Volume 2 includes the index, which lists silphium (Greek {{lang|el|σιλϕιον}}) on page 476, column 2, 2nd entry.
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Buttrey |first1=Theodore V |last2=MacPhee |first2=Ian |title=The coins from the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone |date=1998 |publisher=The University Museum |isbn=978-0-924171-48-2 |oclc=611613435}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Fisher |first1=Nick |title=''Laser''-Quests Unnoticed Allusions to Contraception in a Poet and a Princeps? |journal=Classics Ireland |date=1996 |volume=3 |pages=73–96 |doi=10.2307/25528292 |jstor=25528292}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gemmill |first1=Chalmers L. |title=Silphium |journal=Bulletin of the History of Medicine |date=1966 |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=295–313 |id={{ProQuest|1296321392}} |pmid=5912906 |jstor=44447186 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Helbig |first1=Maciej |title=Physiology and Morphology of σίλφιον in Botanical Works of Theophrastus |journal=Scripta Classica |date=2012 |issue=9 |pages=41–48 |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=212598}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Koerper |first1=Henry |last2=Kolls |first2=A. L |title=The silphium motif adorning ancient libyan coinage: Marketing a medicinal plant |journal=Economic Botany |date=April 1999 |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=133–143 |doi=10.1007/BF02866492 |s2cid=32144481}}
* {{cite book |last1=Riddle |first1=John M. |chapter=Silphium |pages=44–46 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2y1qghNDdBoC&pg=PA44 |title=Eve's Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West |date=1997 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-27026-8}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Riddle |first1=John M. |last2=Estes |first2=J. Worth |last3=Russell |first3=Josiah C. |title=Ever Since Eve... Birth Control in the Ancient World |journal=Archaeology |date=1994 |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=29–35 |jstor=41770706 |oclc=5543506162}}
* {{cite journal |last=Tameanko |first=M. |date=April 1992 |title=The Silphium Plant: Wonder Drug of the Ancient World Depicted on Coins |journal=Celator |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=26–28}}
* {{cite journal |last=Tatman |first=J. L. |date=October 2000 |title=Silphium, Silver and Strife: A History of Kyrenaika and Its Coinage |journal=Celator |volume=14 |issue=10 |pages=6–24}}
* {{cite journal |last=Wright |first=W. S. |date=February 2001 |title=Silphium Rediscovered |journal=Celator |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=23–24}}
*[[William Turner (ornithologist)|William Turner]], ''A New Herball'' (1551, 1562, 1568)
* {{cite journal |last1=Selivanova |first1=Larisa |title=Растительный символ на монетах Кирены |trans-title=A Vegetation Symbol on Coins from Cyrene |language=ru |journal=История |date=2018 |volume=9 |issue=2 |doi=10.18254/S0002135-7-1 |url=https://arxiv.gaugn.ru/s207987840002135-7-1}}
* {{cite thesis |last1=Asciutti |first1=Valentina |title=The Silphium plant: analysis of ancient sources |date=2004 |url=http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3166/}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Silphium (ancient plant)}}
* [http://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/herbal-morning-after-pills.aspx Contraception In Ancient Times: Use of Morning-After Pill] by David W. Tschanz
* [http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Silphion.html Silphion] at Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060216030935/http://www.heartsmith.com/guide_history.html The Secret of the Heart]
* ''[http://obotanicoaprendiznaterradosespantos.blogspot.fr/2014/02/bruco-fetido-margotia-gummifera.html Margotia gummifera]''
* ''[https://www.floravascular.com/index.php?spp=Ferula%20tingitana Ferula tingitana]''
[[Category:Abortifacients]]
[[Category:Spices]]
[[Category:Extinct plants]]
[[Category:Holocene extinctions]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
[[Category:National symbols of Libya]]
[[Category:Roman cuisine]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek cuisine]]
[[Category:Edible Apiaceae]]
[[Category:Undescribed plant species]]