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Neither the article nor the wiki page reveals exactly who thought it was eaten into extinction, which I find difficult to believe is a notion that came from leg

Neither the article nor the wiki page reveals exactly who thought it was eaten into extinction, which I find difficult to believe is a notion that came from legitimate experts on the subject. Certainly many animal species were eaten into extinction, and many plant species have gone extinct, but I have not heard before of any plant species that were eaten into extinction.

juunpp 4y ago
The title itself is cheap click-bait. "This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?" Well, clearly it wasn't if the header image shows somebody today holding the plant, was it? I wonder when will people on the Internet just be able to tell a fucking story by keeping it to the point.
- radarsat1 4y ago
  well it does say "was thought to be extinct" right under the photo, which seems to speak to your point.
  - juunpp 4y ago
    Yeah, contradicting the question/statement in the click-bait is the first thing you do afterwards in a modern article.
generalizations 4y ago
The article talks about how the plant is extremely difficult to cultivate; I wonder if the reason it could be eaten into extinction is because it only grew in the wild, and couldn't be properly farmed in proportion to its popularity.
- msrenee 4y ago
  They said it was extremely difficult to cultivate, but they were able to get them to sprout using cold stratification... Kind of a basic technique nowadays. Lavender, hardy hibiscus, some geraniums, phlox, Chinese lantern, black-eyed susan - all of these common plants need cold stratification to germinate. Home gardeners utilize a plastic bag and their refrigerator. I'm sure this was more vexing in ancient Rome, but the article was talking about cultivating the modern plant in question. Unless there was a lot more to it that the article glossed over, "extremely difficult" is not the the term I'd use to describe the process. It's one of the basic techniques propogators try with a new species when dropping the seeds in the dirt doesn't work.
adastra22 4y ago
Well that is literally the story of this plant. It was valued by the emperor of Rome so much that it was worth its weight in gold. It only grew in one spot and was stripped bare for profit. It never grew back. I couldn’t get the article to load on mobile, so I’m not sure if it talks about this, but there was some theory that it was a natural hybrid and therefore the one instance of the plant was the only one ever grown. It’s known that the seeds never took root and it was never found outside of this one hillside on the eastern Mediterranean.
- cercatrova 4y ago
  I think the parent is asking, how do we know that story is truly how it happened? Perhaps it's an allegory about profit like you said, to teach others not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, as a parallel. Another comment in this thread talked about how changes in Roman microclimate made it unable to thrive anymore.
  - adastra22 4y ago
    We know the plant existed from copious administrative records, if that’s what you’re asking.
woodruffw 4y ago
The Romans thought they ate it into extinction (although they didn't really have the concept of "extinction," per se -- it's more likely they just thought there was no more for them to find).

juunpp 4y ago

The title itself is cheap click-bait. "This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?" Well, clearly it wasn't if the header image shows somebody today holding the plant, was it? I wonder when will people on the Internet just be able to tell a fucking story by keeping it to the point.

radarsat1 4y ago
well it does say "was thought to be extinct" right under the photo, which seems to speak to your point.
- juunpp 4y ago
  Yeah, contradicting the question/statement in the click-bait is the first thing you do afterwards in a modern article.

generalizations 4y ago

The article talks about how the plant is extremely difficult to cultivate; I wonder if the reason it could be eaten into extinction is because it only grew in the wild, and couldn't be properly farmed in proportion to its popularity.

msrenee 4y ago
They said it was extremely difficult to cultivate, but they were able to get them to sprout using cold stratification... Kind of a basic technique nowadays. Lavender, hardy hibiscus, some geraniums, phlox, Chinese lantern, black-eyed susan - all of these common plants need cold stratification to germinate. Home gardeners utilize a plastic bag and their refrigerator. I'm sure this was more vexing in ancient Rome, but the article was talking about cultivating the modern plant in question. Unless there was a lot more to it that the article glossed over, "extremely difficult" is not the the term I'd use to describe the process. It's one of the basic techniques propogators try with a new species when dropping the seeds in the dirt doesn't work.

adastra22 4y ago

Well that is literally the story of this plant. It was valued by the emperor of Rome so much that it was worth its weight in gold. It only grew in one spot and was stripped bare for profit. It never grew back. I couldn’t get the article to load on mobile, so I’m not sure if it talks about this, but there was some theory that it was a natural hybrid and therefore the one instance of the plant was the only one ever grown. It’s known that the seeds never took root and it was never found outside of this one hillside on the eastern Mediterranean.

cercatrova 4y ago
I think the parent is asking, how do we know that story is truly how it happened? Perhaps it's an allegory about profit like you said, to teach others not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, as a parallel. Another comment in this thread talked about how changes in Roman microclimate made it unable to thrive anymore.
- adastra22 4y ago
  We know the plant existed from copious administrative records, if that’s what you’re asking.

woodruffw 4y ago

The Romans thought they ate it into extinction (although they didn't really have the concept of "extinction," per se -- it's more likely they just thought there was no more for them to find).