A contribution to Light Grey Art Lab's BOTANICA show. Silphium was a plant used in classical antiquity, nowadays considered extinct, for both medicinal and culinary use. It’s most famed (and debated) use is as both an aphrodisiac and abortifacient. Additionally, it is thought that the common symbol for a heart was inspired by the shape of the plant’s seed pod – depicted on coins of the time –, strengthening the idea of it as a plant of love and sexuality.