Silphium (antiquity) in the context of "Aphrodisiac"

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⭐ Core Definition: Silphium (antiquity)

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.

It was an essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene, and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore an image of the plant. The valuable product was the plant's resin, called in Latin laserpicium, lasarpicium, or laser (Laserpitium and Laser were used by botanists to name genera of aromatic plants, but the silphium plant is not believed to belong to these genera).

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Silphium (antiquity) in the context of Apiaceae

Apiaceae (/ˌeɪpiˈeɪsi.iː, -ˌaɪ/ ), also called Umbelliferae, is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus Apium, and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants, with more than 3,800 species in about 446 genera, including such well-known, and economically important plants as ajwain, angelica, anise, asafoetida, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, lovage, cow parsley, parsley, parsnip and sea holly, as well as silphium, a plant whose exact identity is unclear and which may be extinct.

The family Apiaceae includes a significant number of phototoxic species, such as giant hogweed, and a smaller number of highly poisonous species, such as poison hemlock, water hemlock, spotted cowbane, fool's parsley, and various species of water dropwort.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Apiaceae ← Umbellifer
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Ancient Greek → Classical antiquity → Aphrodisiac → Cyrene, Libya → Coin → Resin → Laserpitium → Laser (plant) → Genera →