This once-lost ‘miracle plant’ has been rediscovered
In today’s newsletter, we have the scoop on the Chesapeake’s oyster renaissance, uncover a ‘miracle plant’ thought extinct 2,000 years ago, find three new snake species in a graveyard … and learn the best way to deal with that crippling COVID headache.
Once the plant was stockpiled alongside gold, and its saplings carried the value of silver. It was said to cure everything from abdominal pain to warts—and spice up a Roman lentil dish.
But nearly 2,000 years ago, the miraculous silphion was the first-ever plant reported to have gone extinct. In central Turkey, however, researchers believe they have stumbled upon the ancient silphion in the wild (pictured above)—its grooved, buff-colored stalks giving off a pleasant scent between eucalyptus and pine sap. “You can see why everybody who encounters this plant becomes attached to it,” says professor Mahmut Miski.
If the researchers are right, the plant could—once again—become a chemical goldmine.
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Testing ancient recipes: Food historian Sally Grainger cooks Roman recipes with silphion in Istanbul’s Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden. Read more.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Stopping a ‘living hell’: That’s how some people describe the pain of a COVID headache. There are three types of headaches that often come with the pandemic. This Nat Geo story breaks them down and gives tips to help you or a loved one manage.
Related: Is the pandemic part of COVID-19 ‘over’?
STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING
• A NASA spacecraft will smash into an asteroid tonight—to practice saving Earth
• Pinocchio couldn’t help himself but neither can we: Why humans lie
• See the shockingly vibrant world under the ice of Antarctica
• Discovered: The Ice Age treasures hidden in a cave
• A graveyard hunt yielded three new snake species
IN A FEW WORDS
People talk about children as the next generation of conservationists. I like to call them a ‘new’ generation because children can be conservationists today.Shivani Bhalla, Conservation biologist and Nat Geo Explorer
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Dancing the jarabe: That’s the proper term for what was popularized as the Mexican hat dance. Here, two dancers perform the dance in Guadalajara. The image, recently featured in our Photo of the Day archival collection, was a part of a 1967 story on the Mexican city.
