Photo by @alice.zoo Used by ancient Greeks and Romans for everything from food, to perfume, to medicine, and even contraception, the plant known as Silphion was so powerful and popular that it was even depicted on coins. It was, however, a victim of its own success, and eventually went extinct 2000 years ago. It is the first species ever to go extinct as a result of human appetite. Since the 1980s Mahmut Miski, Professor of Pharmacognosy at the University of Istanbul, has been investigating a plant - ferula drudeana - which he believes to be Silphion. A precious few flowering plants are growing on the side of a volcano in Turkey. Here, he cups his hands around some of the plant’s flowering ends. The rest of the story is online @natgeo now - follow me @alice.zoo for more images from this story along with other projects about ritual and meaning. #NatGeo #NationalGeographic #Silphion