Fabienne GallaireMay 23, 2025
"The first recorded instance of the extinction of a plant species through
human intervention is that of the Libyan silphium, the last stalk of which was believed to have been presented to the emperor Nero in the first century CE. It took the concerted work of antiquaries and botanists to unravel just what had happened."
Peter Mason, "Botanists and Antiquaries in the Garden of the Hesperides.
https://parergon.org/index.php/parergon/issue/view/31
#histnat #histplantes #histsci #histbota
Vol. 41 No. 1 (2024): Open Issue | Parergon

Fabienne GallaireOct 11, 2024
A Balm in Gilead?
A millennium-old seed sprouts a new species candidate for an ancient plant.
#histsci #histbota #archeo #histnat
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-06721-5
Characterization and analysis of a Commiphora species germinated from an ancient seed suggests a possible connection to a species mentioned in the Bible - Communications Biology

Germination of an ancient seed from the Judean desert, confirmed by DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis as belonging to an unknown Commiphora sp., contained abundant bioactive compounds, suggesting identification with a resin-producing tree mentioned in Biblical sources.

Nature
Fabienne GallaireOct 11, 2024
Trouvé au hasard des recherches biblio : cette proposition d'ajouter le Crosne du Japon, nouvellement introduit au Royaume-Uni, dans le régime des diabétiques, 1910.
Notez le nom de "Chinese artichoke", sur le modèle du "Jerusalem artichoke", le topinambour.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25289812
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stachys_affinis
#histmed #histbota #plantesvoyageuses