Conium maculatum 399 BC, and his trial resulted in a death sentence. Although Socrates could have avoided death, he decided to take a potent infusion of the hemlock plant. Plato described Socrates' death in the "Phaedo": Although many have questioned whether this is a factual account, it is the perspective of Bloch that careful attention to Plato's words, modern and ancient medicine and other ancient Greek sources point to this account being consistent with "Conium" poisoning. Conium maculatum Conium maculatum, the hemlock or poison hemlock, is a highly poisonous biennial herbaceous flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, native to Europe and
Silphium (genus) Silphium (genus) Silphium is a genus of North American plants in the sunflower tribe within the daisy family. Members of the genus, commonly known as rosinweeds, are herbaceous perennial plants growing to to more than tall, with yellow (rarely white) flowerheads that resemble sunflowers. In the rosinweeds, the outer florets in the head are fertile and the inner florets are sterile; in the sunflowers, the reverse is true. The name of the genus comes from the Ancient Greek word for a North African plant whose identity has been lost, though it is known its gum or juice was prized by