54 



GARDE^ERS' CHROMCLE 



Plants of the Bible and Biblical Lands 



FLOWERS pressed and sent home from time 

 to time during the recent war as well as the 

 sojourning of so many of our soldiers in "the 

 far east" have brought Biblical lands very close to 

 us, and it may be interesting to some to have their 

 memories refreshed in regard to the living things that 

 spring from the sacred soil of such lands as we 

 find mentioned in Holy Writ. Anything connected 

 with Palestine especially, whose hills and valleys Our 

 Saviour trod and whose rocks re-echoed the very words 

 He spoke, must have a vital interest for each one of us, 

 and there is wonderment in the thought that our eyes 

 can behold today the very same kinds of flowers and 

 plants that perhaps He looked upon and drew lessons 

 from in His teaching. For in the Holy Land, conditions 

 have apparently changed very little if at all since Our 

 Lord's time, and we find the same manners and customs 

 prevailing today as those which were in vogue over three 

 thousand years ago. In other countries as time sweeps 

 on, fashions come and go and progress is made in differ- 

 ent directions, but Palestine. Syria and the greater part 

 of Egypt as well as the Sinaitic peninsula remain un- 

 changed, one of the features which strikes the traveler 

 most being the marvelous antiquity and uniformity of 

 the customs. Not only do these remain the same but also 

 the bulk of the language, together with the productions 

 and great natural features of the country. The shepherd 

 mav lead his sheep in A.D. 1919 over the very hillsides 

 frequented by the "Shepherd King." The traveler on 

 his way may still pluck the ears of corn and allow his 

 horse to feed in passing on the unenclosed crops of bar- 

 ley, or "eat his fill of grapes at his own pleasure," as he 

 goes through the numerous vineyards, with the single 

 stipulation that he puts none into a vessel to carry away. 

 In regard to the wheat and barley this practice is easy 

 and natural as these crops are easily cultivated in Syria 

 and Egypt, extending for miles over the country in one 

 unbroken line and in good seasons yielding an astound- 

 ing return. .\s the seed is still sown broadcast, every 

 bit of tlie ground being cultivated, the ideas of trespass 

 and prohibition do not exist, in addition to which there 

 is the instinctive hospitality of the Eastern. The vine- 

 yards are enclosed and carefully protected from the dep- 

 redations of robbers and wild animals, yet this charter 

 of "the stranger and the poor" as given in the law of 

 Moses (Deuteronomy XXIII, 24 and 25) is still respected 

 and observerl. The greetmgs and farewells are identical 

 with those in the time of Abraham, although a little of 

 the significance and spirit may have passed out of them. 

 Going through the country parts particularly, one notices 

 the adherence to the ways and things of the past. From 

 the south of Egypt to the extreme north of Syria, the 

 plough used today is the same as that employed in the 

 earliest times and of the same pattern everywhere. It 

 just serves to scratch the soil to a depth of two or three 

 inches. If harvests were not so plentiful and crops did 

 not respond so readily as they do in those favored re- 

 gions, a little progress might have been made in the con- 

 struction of this and other farm implements. Every- 

 where the excellent cofifee is served out of the same little 

 handlcless cup, imvarying in size and design, and at 

 entertainments the ho.s't still ri.ses and after girding him- 

 self with a towel, washes the feet of his guests. Im- 

 mutability has been well said to be the law of the East. 



To the Jews and Greeks wc are indehtcrl for the earliest 

 allusions in writing to i^lants and flowers, the former 

 in the books of the Old Testament, the latter through the 



works of their poet, Homer. The Old Testament gives 

 us the first account of a piece of ground being marked 

 out and set aside for the culture of flowers, in its story 

 of the Garden of Eden, supposed by some authorities tO' 

 have been situated in Palestine. Later on we read of 

 the "promised garden of Mahomet" and the far-famed 

 hanging gardens of Babylon in which King Solomon, an 

 enthusiastic gardener and botanist, took such keen delight. 



Doubtless the eyes of the Jews of long ago were not 

 closed to the beauty and significance of the lowly things 

 of the earth — David's utterances in the Psalms show that 

 he must have lived very close to them — and they prob- 

 ably had acquired much knowledge of plant life during 

 the period of their wanderings before entering the prom- 

 ised land. They were thus well able to read the book 

 of Nature, hence the constant use made of it in Holy 

 Scripture to illustrate some precept or inculcate some 

 moral truth. 



Flowers occupied a proininent place on every Jewish 

 festival, when they wished to show honor to distin- 

 guished persons. In the -Apocrypha — Wisdom XI. 6 — we 

 have a reference to this lavish use of wreaths which 

 rims as follows — "Come on therefore : let us enjoy the 

 good things that are present; and let us speedily use the 

 creatures like us in youth. Let us fill ourselves with 

 costly wine and ointments; and let no flower of Spring 

 pass by us : Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before 

 they are withered." 



To understand the nature of the vegetation and the 

 Biblical allusions it is necessary to bear in mind the i^hys- 

 ical features. Taking Palestine first, from north to 

 south, we have a narrow tract of country nearly all parts 

 ■of which, in spite of the existing mountains, reap bene- 

 fit from the west,wind which blows from the Mediterra- 

 nean dining the greater part of the year. The .Xrabs 

 very appropriately call this wind "the father of rain," 

 but during Summer and Autumn it only gets as far as 

 making night mists which are soon dissipated by the 

 morning sun. There is great diversity of surface in a 

 small space and consequently a great variety of plant 

 life. Going from west to east we have along the sea- 

 coast a plain extending for about 10 miles inland. This 

 is very fertile with the e.xception of its coastal edge which 

 is marked by the presence of sand dunes. These seem 

 to be encroaching inland and in places are quite wide. 



Amongst the plants growing on the sand dunes are 

 Artemisia monospcnua, a species of wormwood, with a 

 very strong scent and a bitter taste; .\triplcx porlnla- 

 coides (.Sea Purslane) ; Sea Rocket, a cruciferous plant 

 with fleshy leaves; numerous prickly members of 

 the ubi(|uitous Daisy family. including Cyaiica 

 S\riaca. with its violet colored flowers; Cyiioiiioriiim 

 cocciiiiiiiii .if which the name alone is enough to startle 

 anybody, a curious leafless, red plant covered with scales 

 and jiarasitic on the roots of others, especially those be- 

 longing to the f;nnily of Chcuopodiacrtc : I'otlim weed. 

 a herb clothed with dense grey wool ; Squirting Cucum- 

 lirr, of which some may like the botanical name — /;c/'(i/- 

 linm clalcrium — with its thick prostrate stems, like long 

 arms reaching out over the sand, rough leaves and small 

 greenish gourds, startling the passer-by now and then by 

 its explosive ejection of seeds; Crambc marilima (Sea- 

 k-ale) ; Jasmine officinah. with its white sweet-scented 

 flowers; Reseda orientalis: Salicomia fnilieosa and S. 

 brrbaeea. the latter leafless with spikes of flowers jointed 

 like the stem; different species of tufted Grasses, which 

 help to bind the sand together: Thxmdiva hirsiila. a shrub 



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