Julius Caesar kept a cache of it in the government treasury and the Greeks even put it on their money. It was worth its weight in gold – but no one knows if it still exists. Long ago, in the ancient ...

Silphium is a herb that may have not looked the most pretty or striking, but in the ancient city of Cyrene, the plant soon became as valuable as gold. It is described as having short leaves, tiny ...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Way back when, in 631 B.C., a city called Cyrene was founded by ...

Wood is the primary source of raw material for paper production—whether as fresh fiber or recycled material. The silphium plant, a perennial energy crop, is now also being used as an alternative fiber ...

To most people, the phrase birth control doesn’t evoke mental images of herbs, sneezing, or crocodile excrement. But women and men in ancient cultures used a variety of unusual methods to prevent ...

An ancient plant hailed as a panacea that was consumed by most ancient Mediterranean cultures and believed to be extinct may have been rediscovered in Turkey. Referred to as silphion, the ...

For much of the 19th century, passenger pigeon was a staple of American cuisine. The last male died in 1912 (Bettmann / Getty). The earliest humans favored juicy, meaty mammoth at mealtimes. Ancient ...

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a member of the carrot family, along with parsley, celery, dill, coriander, and cilantro. Unlike its graceful relatives, however, fennel is clunky and funny-looking. It ...