Zylfion

Zylfion, a plant once prized by the ancient Greeks and Romans, is a fascinating subject of botanical and historical research. Its image adorned coins from Cyrene, and its culinary and medicinal versatility contributed to significant commercial profits. Although zylfion grew in popularity, overuse led to its near extinction by the 4th century AD. Currently, scientists such as Dr. Karl Shuker are trying to unravel the mystery of this plant, pointing to possible connections with other species, leaving the history of zylfion still unexplored.

Zylfion on a coin from ancient Cyrene

Today, few people have heard of this plant. However, in ancient times, it was widely distributed and valued by the Greeks and Romans. Its image appears on ancient coins from Cyrene (two of which you can see on this page). The plant owed its popularity to its versatility—its stem and young shoots had a wonderful flavor, and a syrup called laserpitium was obtained from the sap and roots . It's no wonder, then, that zylfion brought great wealth to merchants who brought it to Europe from its native North Africa, where it grew abundantly wild, especially in Syria. We owe our knowledge of zylfion to Pliny the Elder.

Perhaps the extraordinary popularity of the plant contributed to its sad end - probably the greed of merchants caused the zylfion to appear less and less frequently, and in the 4th century AD it was already a completely unknown plant.

Using several ancient descriptions and images, modern botanists have attempted to determine its species affiliation. They have suggested, among others, that it is a variety of fennel , Ferula assafoetida , or Thapsia garganica , but previous proposals have not satisfactorily resolved the mystery.

While researching this issue, Dr. Karl Shuker discovered several intriguing clues. In Greek, the name "Zilfion" begins not with the letter zeta (z), but sigma (s). Therefore, it should properly be written "silfion." It's an interesting coincidence that the common name of the plant Ferula narthex , closely related to the aforementioned Ferula assafoetida , is "silfion." Furthermore, according to a reliable source, which should be considered the 1974 Dictionary of Crop Plants by George Usher, silfium was known not only to the ancient Greeks and Romans but also to the Egyptians. Is it possible that silfion and silfium are the same plant? No, if we are to believe the description of Pliny the Elder, because he claimed, like other ancient chroniclers, that silphium grows in North Africa, Usher, on the other hand, states that silphium grows in a mountainous region called Little Tibet, located in northern Kashmir between the Karakoram and the Himalayas.

Unless a reasonable explanation is found for the significant geographical discrepancies, the zylfion will remain one of the many mysteries of the plant world.