BBC article on silphium

[Duncan Head]

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170907-the-mystery-of-the-lost-roman-herb

[Imperial Dave]

what a great article. Thanks for the find Duncan. This bit did have me chuckling though....

"simply rub into the affected area, though Pliny warns his readers never, ever to try this with a tooth cavity, after a man who did so threw himself off a house"

[Erpingham]

Which Falco novel is it that features a "get-rich-quick" scheme to track down Silphium? 

[Duncan Head]

Which Falco novel is it that features a "get-rich-quick" scheme to track down Silphium?

The one in Africa, with the lions in the arena?

[Erpingham]

Which Falco novel is it that features a "get-rich-quick" scheme to track down Silphium?

The one in Africa, with the lions in the arena?

Yes.  A quick google tells me it is Two for the Lions.

[Imperial Dave]

I knew I had seen it somewhere before! Must dig out those books at some point 

[Mark G]

Rock me Marcus didius.

[Dave Beatty]

Hmmm... picking huckleberries in "America's National Parks" will get you 10 to 20 hard time in the slammer... just sayin... the author has confused National Parks with National Forest - it is mostly legal to collect stuff from the latter but not the former.

[Duncan Head]

Hmmm... picking huckleberries in "America's National Parks" will get you 10 to 20 hard time in the slammer...

That apparently depends where, and how many. For instance:

Huckleberries in Glacier National Park
Visitors to Glacier can pick one quart of huckleberries per person per day. They may be collected for personal consumption only. Waterton Lakes National Park only allows hand-to-mouth picking.