Ferula

Ferula plant

The Romans used the hollow light rod made from the ferula plant (compare also fasces, judicial birches) for walking sticks, splints, for stirring boiling liquids, and for corporal punishment.

Ferula (from Latin ferula, "rod") is a genus of about 170 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 one to four meters 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 flowers are yellow, 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.

The ferula also shows up in mythological contexts. The main shaft of a thyrsus was traditionally made from this plant, and Prometheus smuggled fire to humanity by hiding it in a ferula as well.

List of Spanking Implements
Flat spanking implements bath brush (wooden or plastic) belt bimmy cooking spatula (wooden or plastic) dough scraper (rubber or silicone) flyswatter hairbrush (wooden or plastic) leather paddle Newspaper paddle (wooden paddle) ping-pong paddle ruler (wooden or plastic) slapper/flapper slipper / Plimsoll strap / Strop tawse wooden spoon Stick-like spanking implements blackboard pointer cane (rattan, bamboo etc.) crop ferula stick switch yardstick Other spanking implements baccalà (clipfish) birch carpet beater Quirt rope's end scourge stinging nettles Whipping implements include bullwhip cat o' nine tails chicotte (an African whip) flail flogger horsehair whip human hair whip klopfpeitsche loopy johnny martinet quirt rebenque (South American gaucho whip) rubber hose single-tail whip sjambok (South African whip)
Some spanking implements produce more "sting" while others produce more "thud". See "sting and thud" for more on this distinction.

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