Ammoniacum or the gumammoniac is a gum-resin exuded from the several perennial herbs in the genus Ferula of the umbel family (Apiaceae). There are three types of ammoniacum: the gums ammoniac of Cyrenaica, of Persia (the commercial one today), and of Morocco.
Ammoniacum was first documented in the 1st century by Dioscorides in his De materia medica . It got its name from the Temple of Jupiter Ammon in ancient Libya (located in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt today) near which it was produced. It is called the gum ammoniac of Cyrenaica to differentiate it from the commercial one used today, and its source plant has been identified as Ferula marmarica native to Libya and Egypt. [1] The export of the gum ammoniac of Cyrenaica to Europe declined after Arab and Turk domination of the Middle East, [1] but probably continued at least until the 18th century, as Linnaeus still cited Libya and Egypt as the places of origin of ammoniacum in his Materia medica. [2]
The gum ammoniac of Persia gradually replaced the one of Cyrenaica as the commercial ammoniacum exported to Europe. [1] It was probably first mentioned in European literature in 1716 by Michael Bernhard Valentini. [3] Its source plant is Ferula ammoniacum (syn. Dorema ammoniacum) native to Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. [4]
The plant grows to the height of 2½ or 3 meters (8 or 9 ft.) and its whole stem is pervaded with a milky juice, which oozes out on an incision being made at any part. This juice quickly hardens into round tears, forming the "tear ammoniacum" of commerce. "Lump ammoniacum", the other form of the substance, consists of aggregations of tears, frequently incorporating fragments of the plant itself, as well as other foreign bodies.
Ammoniacum has a faintly fetid, unpleasant odor, which becomes more distinct on heating; externally, it possesses a reddish-yellow appearance, and when the tears or lumps are freshly fractured they exhibit a waxy luster. It is chiefly collected in central Persia, and comes to the European market by way of Bombay. [5]
Ammoniacum is closely related to asafoetida and galbanum (from which, however, it differs in yielding no umbelliferone) both in regard to the plant which yields it and its putative effects. [5]
The gum ammoniac of Morocco first received attention in Europe in 1809 when James Grey Jackson described a plant producing the gum ammoniac of Barbary. [6] The source plant has been identified as Ferula communis subsp. brevifolia native to Morocco, Algeria and the Canary Islands. [1] [7] Though it has been used by local people as herbal medicine for hundreds of years, it probably has never been commercially important in Europe. [1]
Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus Pyrus, in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the same name. Several species of pears are valued for their edible fruit and juices, while others are cultivated as trees.
Citrus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus Citrus is native to South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and Australia. Various citrus species have been used and domesticated by indigenous cultures in these areas since ancient times. From there its cultivation spread into Micronesia and Polynesia by the Austronesian expansion ; and to the Middle East and the Mediterranean via the incense trade route, and onwards to Europe and the Americas.
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Cynara is a genus of thistle-like perennial plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, northwestern Africa, and the Canary Islands. The genus name comes from the Greek kynara, which means "artichoke".
Ferula is a genus of about 220 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to central Asia, mostly growing in arid climates. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing to 1–4 m tall, with stout, hollow, somewhat succulent stems. The leaves are tripinnate or even more finely divided, with a stout basal sheath clasping the stem. The basal sheaths of Ferula oopoda are up to six inches (15 cm) long and form a cup holding about a cup of rainwater, possibly to draw pollinators in an arid land. The flowers are usually yellow, rarely white, produced in large umbels. Many plants of this genus, especially F. communis, are referred to as "giant fennel," although they are not fennel in the strict sense.
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Pyrus communis, the common pear, is a species of pear native to central and eastern Europe, and western Asia.
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Fumaria officinalis, the common fumitory, drug fumitory or earth smoke, is a herbaceous annual flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It is the most common species of the genus Fumaria in Western and Central Europe.
Vachellia nilotica, more commonly known as Acacia nilotica, and by the vernacular names of gum arabic tree, babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. It is also considered a 'weed of national significance' and an invasive species of concern in Australia, as well as a noxious weed by the federal government of the United States.
Stacte and nataph are names used for one component of the Solomon's Temple incense, the Ketoret, specified in the Book of Exodus. Variously translated to the Greek term or to an unspecified "gum resin" or similar, it was to be mixed in equal parts with onycha, galbanum and mixed with pure frankincense and they were to "beat some of it very small" for burning on the altar of the tabernacle.
Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, has a history which extends to the present day from when the Greek colony of Euesperides was founded in the 6th century BCE. Throughout its history, the city has been continuously conquered by different ancient and colonial forces.
Allium roseum, commonly called rosy garlic, is an edible, Old World species of wild garlic. It is native to the Mediterranean region and nearby areas, with a natural range extending from Portugal and Morocco to Turkey and the Palestine region. It is cultivated widely, and has become naturalised in scattered locations in other regions outside its natural range.
Ferula communis, the giant fennel, is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae. It is related to the common fennel, which belongs to the same family.
Theophrastus's Enquiry into Plants or Historia Plantarum was, along with his mentor Aristotle's History of Animals, Pliny the Elder's Natural History and Dioscorides's De materia medica, one of the most important books of natural history written in ancient times, and like them it was influential in the Renaissance. Theophrastus looks at plant structure, reproduction and growth; the varieties of plant around the world; wood; wild and cultivated plants; and their uses. Book 9 in particular, on the medicinal uses of plants, is one of the first herbals, describing juices, gums and resins extracted from plants, and how to gather them.
De materia medica is a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and the medicines that can be obtained from them. The five-volume work was written between 50 and 70 CE by Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek physician in the Roman army. It was widely read for more than 1,500 years until supplanted by revised herbals in the Renaissance, making it one of the longest-lasting of all natural history and pharmacology books.
Opopanax is a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae.
Astragalus sarcocolla, also known as Persian gum, is a shrub or tree from Persia historically famed for its balsam, which was used to create ancient and medieval paint and in traditional medicines. Although its identity was uncertain to Europeans after it fell from use in the medieval period, it has since been identified with a species of Astragalus (Papilionaceae).
