The Silphium plant of Cyrene, valued as a seasoning, aromatic, and for its medicinal properties, is referenced by several notable ancient writers, but two of the best-known descriptions come from Theophrastus (l. c. 371 to c. 287 BCE) and Pliny the Elder (l. 23-79 CE). By Pliny's time, silphium was extinct, most likely due to overharvesting and overgrazing. [image:17592] Among the many other...