Plant of the Day

July 14, 2026

MOLY

The Moly was a magical plant, beneficent in its nature, which Homer tells us, in the ‘Odyssey,’ was given by Mercury to Ulysses to enable him successfully to withstand and overcome the enchantments of the sorceress Circe, and obtain the restoration of his comrades whom the witch-goddess had by her enchantments transformed into swine. Ulysses, distressed at the fate of his companions, was visited by Mercury, who promised to give him a plant of extraordinary powers, which should baffle the spells of Circe;

“Thus while he spoke, the sovereign plant he drew
Where on th’ all-bearing earth unmark’d it grew,
And show’d its nature and its wondrous power:
Black was the root, but milky white the flower;
Moly the name, to mortals hard to find,
But all is easy to th’ ethereal kind.”—Pope.

The Moly is generally supposed to have been a species of Garlick (a plant credited with many magical qualities), and Gerarde, in his ‘Herbal,’ describes several plants under the head of “Moly, or Sorcerer’s Garlick,” one of which he particularises as Homer’s Moly (Moly Homericum). The identity of the plant has, however, long been a matter for speculation among botanists of all ages. Dodonæus, Anguillara, and Cæsalpinus consider it to be Allium magicum; Matthiolus and Clusius, Allium subhirsutum; Sprengel, Allium nigrum; and Sibthorp, a plant which he names Allium Dioscoridis. Various treatises have appeared on the subject, in one of which the Moly is thought to be identified with the Lotus. Milton, in his ‘Comus,’ mentions a magical plant, designated Hæmony, which possessed similar properties to the Moly, and was potent in dispelling enchantments, ghostly apparations, mildew-blast, and unwholesome vapours.