THE JUNIPER. 



JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS. 



Ctoss— Dhecia. Order— MONADBLPHIA. 



The Juniper is well known to the readers of the 

 English version of the Bible as the tree under 

 which the prophet Elijah, wearied with his journey 

 through the wilderness, sat down to rest, when 

 flying from the persecution of Jezebel (1 Kings 

 xix 4). This tree, or rather shrub, is generally 

 supposed to be a species of Broom {Genista 

 monosperma) which is one of the few plants to be 

 found in the Arabian deserts. Burckhardt mentions 

 it as growing also in the deserts to the south of 

 Palestine, so that the Juniper which sheltered the 

 prophet may possibly be the tree in question, 

 though other travellers have looked for it in the 

 neighbourhood of Mount Horeb, instead of at the 

 distance of a day's journey from Jerusalem. Lord 

 Lindsay speaks of his having frequently sheltered 

 himself under a Broom in the valleys of Mount 

 Sinai, an incident which Dr. Kitto fixes on as 

 conclusive, seemingly forgetting that Elijah was 

 as yet distant a journey of forty days from the 

 same spot. Nevertheless the similarity of the 

 Hebrew name Rothem to the Arabic Rethem, 

 makes it highly probable that the two trees are 

 identical. 



