Flowers in Israel

Job 30:4 – Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

Althea derives from the Greek word ‘altho’ to cure’ and the family name Malvaceae is one of the many species of flowering plants that contains the genus Malva, the mallow genus, and its relatives, including the marshmallow plant (Althaea officinalis).

The two species that are common in Israel are the Alcea setosa and the Alcea dissecta. The Alcea setosa is widespread in the Mediterranean mountainous open areas. Rare in Judea and Samaria, found quite in the Carmel and Lower-Galilee. In Upper Galilee it is replaced by the Alcea dissecta. This plant is specific near the Banias and the Dan and widespread in the Dan Valley and Upper- Galilee and it stands out alongside the road in spring and the beginning of summer.Althaea is a perennial plant growing to 150-200cm tall, with broad, rounded, palmate lobed leaves with 3-7 lobes and numerous pink flowers, on the erect central stem. The corolla is 15 to 20 cm in diameter.

The Sages wrote about the Altheae in general.Hippocrates (c.460BCE-c.377BCE) Greek physician and father of modern medicine, described the value of althea in the treatment of wounds.Theophrastus (c. 372-286 BC), the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic school, reported that it was taken in sweet wine for coughs.Dioscorides (c.40-c.90CE), another Greek physician a few centuries later, prescribed a vinegar infusion as a cure for toothaches and recommended a preparation of the seeds to soothe insect stings.Horace (65-8 BC), Roman poet and satirist, mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: “Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea, me malvae” (“As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance.”)Pliny (23-79) said: ‘Whosoever shall take a spoonful of the Mallows shall that day be free from all diseases that may come to him.’It is cultivated extensively in Europe for medicinal purposes, acting as a demulcent. In 812, Charlemagne enjoined its culture in France.

James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (1714 -1799), a Scottish judge, scholar of language evolution and philosopher, describes his translation of an ancient epigram that demonstrates malva was planted upon the graves of the ancients, stemming from the belief that the dead could feed on such perfect plants.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built a house between 1919 and 1921 in LA called Hollyhock House for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall.The house takes its name from the favorite flower of Aline Barnsdall. At her request, hollyhocks were incorporated into the decorative program of the house, and stylized representations of the flower may be found on the roofline, walls, columns planters and furniture.
And not to forget Marshmallow crème, the real marshmallows, made the traditional way, with powdered marshmallow root, egg whites, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. The traditional recipe of the confection used an extract from the mucilaginous root of the marshmallow plant, the Althaea officinalis, instead of gelatin. The root extract (halawa extract) is also used to make a Middle Eastern snack called halva (חלבה), very popular in Israel and can be found in almost every grocery store.The Arabic word halwa is a generic term for candy, or “sweetmeat” in literal translation and comes from the Arabic word halwa; the root word is hilwa meaning sweet. The root word is also the basis for the Arabic words for “good” (hala’) and “very sweet” (hali). Many scholars identify the jujube as the biblical atad, mentioned in the “Parable of the trees” in the book of Judges (Judges 9:15) known as Jotham’s Parable (Hebrew: משל יותם), an allegorical story against the monarchy in recent years told on Tu B’shvat as a children’s tale. Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon and the only one left living besides Abimelech, escapes to Mount Gerizim, near Shechem and tells what has come to be known as Jotham’s Parable (Judges 9: 7-21), the story of “the trees who went forth to anoint a king over them.” The trees first appeal to the olive, ‘Be our king’ the latter refuses to be a king, asking, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ The fig also refused, saying, “Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit to wave over the trees?” Likewise the vine: “Shall I leave my new wine which cheers God and men to wave over you?” Finally all the trees said to the Jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi, Hebrew: Atad, אטד), ‘Come and be our king’ and the Jujube, with nothing to offer but its shadow, agrees to reign, but not without making a thinly-veiled threat: ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the Jujube (Atad) and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’ Judg. 9:15).

The olive, fig, vine and jujube in the parable stand for different kinds of people. The good fruits are symbols of good works. The jujube is the type of someone who does not do good uses or only does them for show and for selfish gain. The olive, fig and vine are modest and wish only to serve, but selfishness loves to rule and to be served. Fire coming out of the jujube means the burning of selfish desires. The cedar which the fire destroys stands for rational understanding. Someone who is proud or angry cannot be wise.

Yotam, the teller of the parable, is using the metaphor of the the atad to ridicule his older brother, Abimelech, who has unjustly annointed himself king, surrounded himself with yesmen and murdered all his brothers save for Yotam.

The jujube tree is common in Samaria. It can grow very large, easily providing shade for these small trees. The wild jujube growing in Israel is apparently of Sudanian origin. It is a broad-crowned, spiny tree with intertwined branches that reach nearly to ground level. Its leaves are smooth and ovate. The yellowish fruits are round in shape. They are edible, not unusual tasty and it is very much the poor relative of the olive, fig and vine, mentioned in the parable. In the past jujube fruits were commonly sold in the marketplace. In the Arava Valley, the tree is usually evergreen, but in the north it is deciduous and loses its leaves in the cold winter. The jujube grows in wet desert habitats and in riverbeds with deep soil that can store water throughout the summer. In the region between Hatzeva and Jericho, jujube is the second most common tree, after the acacia.

Its wide spreading root-system is well-known for leaching all nourishments from the soil. A farmer who wants his orchard to succeed must first uproot every jujube in the area, small saplings as well as full-grown trees. Ziziphus spina-christi is one of several candidates for Jesus’ crown of thorns, hence its name: “They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him” (Mark 15:17).

It is a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil, and [date] honey. Deuteronomy 8, 8.

The Ficus carica was cultivated for its fruit some 6500 years ago. It is a dioecious species with separate male and female trees, and a symbiotic pollinator wasp (Blastophaga psenes) that is propagated inside the fruits (syconia) of male trees called capri figs. Pollination of edible figs requires fig wasps to transport pollen from Capri fig flowers. The Ficus carica is native to the region between the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Evidently many ancient civilizations were aware of the fact that Ficus carica required pollination in order to produce edible, seed-bearing fruits, a process called caprification. Aristotle (384-322BCE) described fig wasps that came out of Capri figs and penetrated the unripe female fig fruits, thus fertilizing them.

Theophrastus of Eresos (371-287 BCE) was essentially the first botanical taxonomist and some 2,300 years ago he described in details on fig caprification. In order to prevent the abortion of their embryo cultivar figs, the farmers arranged that ripe wild figs were hung in orchards of the cultivars at embryo stage, or even went so far as to interplant the early, intermediate and late cultivars (you get three crops per annum in the Mediterranean) with the appropriate wild variety. They were aware of the galls which develop in the inedible or goat-fig and were aware of the insect which came out of the ripe fruit and entered the embryo fruit, allowing it to develop to an edible fig. The flower of a fig of course, is very unusual in that it is completely enclosed within the fig itself and never seen, male flowers at the top and female below. It isfertilised by a tiny wasp which leaves the ripe fig and enters the embryo fig via a minute hole at the top, which is hidden by overlapping scales. Each species of fig has developed a symbiosis with a different wasp over the last 100 million years.

Theophrastus of Eresos (371-287 BCE) was essentially the first botanical taxonomist and some 2,300 years ago he described in details on fig caprification. In order to prevent the abortion of their embryo cultivar figs, the farmers arranged that ripe wild figs were hung in orchards of the cultivars at embryo stage, or even went so far as to interplant the early, intermediate and late cultivars (you get three crops per annum in the Mediterranean) with the appropriate wild variety. They were aware of the galls which develop in the inedible or goat-fig and were aware of the insect which came out of the ripe fruit and entered the embryo fruit, allowing it to develop to an edible fig. The flower of a fig of course, is very unusual in that it is completely enclosed within the fig itself and never seen, male flowers at the top and female below. It is fertilised by a tiny wasp which leaves the ripe fig and enters the embryo fig via a minute hole at the top, which is hidden by overlapping scales. Each species of fig has developed a symbiosis with a different wasp over the last 100 million years.

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle and the oil-tree (Isaiah 41:19).
The Acacia tortilis, the umbrella thorn acacia is a spiny, desert tree of Sudanian origin that grows in Israel in the hot areas of the Judean Desert and the eastern Negev along with the spiraled species (Acacia raddiana). The umbrella thorn grows to a heights between 4 to 7 metres tall in areas with annual rainfall as low as 40 mm and as much as 1200 mm, with dry seasons of 1-12 months. It has a multiple of not very straight trunks growing at an angle out of the base of the tree, which produce a foliage crown resembling an umbrella with a flattened top. The spines are in pairs, some short and hooked up to 5mm long, mixed with long straight spines. The presence of these two types of thorns distinguishes the umbrella thorn acacia from other acacias. Leaves are 1-7 cm long, with 2-14 pinnae each with 6-22 pairs of leaflets. The young branches, leaves and fruits are hairy. It flowers in April through December and the flowers are white to pale yellow, which later develop into bunches of spirally twisted, indehiscent pods (not opening spontaneously at maturity to release seeds). The pods contain several hard seeds, high in crude protein (38%) and phosphorus so very nutritious. The pods are eaten by wild and domestic animals, and sometimes by man, they have 12-19% protein content. The foliage is also palatable and provides food and shade for animals, insects live in the foliage, and insect-feeding birds build nests in its branches. The tree’s roots spread out, quite often, beyond the span of the tree’s foliage, and they follow the flow of any nearby water, sinking to about five feet beneath the ground.
The Arava acacias, as products of an arid climate, are very sensitive to any change in the flow of water in their riverbed environment. Tracks left by even one ATV can cause the death of a century-old acacia. Depending on the area in which the tree is situated, the dying process can continue for many years. A tree that does not get enough water produces increasingly fewer leaves, flowers and fruit. The animal life that depends upon the tree is then reduced accordingly, eventually resulting in the deaths of large numbers of animals.Any road-building that involves detouring the riverbed, however slightly, must be carefully engineered. Additional water-conducting channels beneath roads must be planned to avoid riverbed blockage. In the absence of these considerations, the entire landscape and ecology of the Arava could change, spelling disaster for the entire region.
The Acacia raddiana, Spiraled acacia (Hebrew: Shitah selilanit, שיטה סלילנית ) has a rather vertical trunk, out of which secondary branches grow, producing an irregular foliage crown. The Acacia raddiana flowers in Israel between June and December.

The Acacia tortillis, the Shittim from the Bible, is presumed as being the wood from which the Biblical Ark of the Tabernacle was made: “And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand” (Deuteronomy 10:3).The ark built for the Tabernacle was about 2.9 feet long. Certainly the height of these trees would not enable 220 inch planks of wood to be cut out of the trunks. So we must assume that the species of acacia trees around the Sinai desert in 1552-1551 BC were much taller than they are today.The ark was the first piece of furniture built for the Tabernacle. Shittim wood is a beautiful orange-colored wood, quite heavy and close grained. As it ages, this wood will darken. It is quite insect-resistant.

Exodus 25:10-13 “Have them make a chest of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high [That is, about 3 3/4 feet (about 1.1 meters) long and 2 1/4 feet (about 0.7 meter) wide and high]. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.”

The book of Numbers 33:49 does record that the Israelites camped along the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim. “Abel Shittim” is translated “meadow of the acacias.”Shittim Acacias, also called “Abel-shittim”, is a plain or valley in the land of Moab, where the Israelites were encamped after their two victories over Sihon and Og, at the close of their desert wanderings, and from which Joshua sent forth two spies: “And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. (Jos 2:1).Shittim is also mentioned in Hosea 5.2; Joel 3.18; and Micah 6.5).The shittah tree is mentioned only once in the Bible: Isaiah 41:19 “I will put in the desert the cedar and the shittah tree, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together.”

The Palestine Oak (Quercus calliprinos) is closely related to the Kermes Oak (Quercus coccifera) of the western Mediterranean, and is treated as a subspecies or variety of it by some botanists. The Kermes Oak is distinguished from it by its smaller size (usually shrubby, not over 10 m) and smaller acorns less than 2 cm diameter.

The Quercus calliprinos is the most predominant of the three oak species growing in Israel; the others are the Tabor (Quercus ithaburensis) and Aleppo (Quercus infectoria) oaks. The Quercus calliprinos is found on the most common type of mountain soil, the Terra Rossa. The parent materials of Terra Rossa are dolomite and hard limestone, the soil depth varies from shallow to deep (0.5-2m). It enjoys a xeric moisture regime, deep in hilltops and shallow in sloppy mountainous areas. The soil has a reddish brown color. This tree is the major evergreen element in the oak-pistachio woodlands of Israel’s Mediterranean climatic zone. They usually appear as a large bush, though some tall individual trees do exist, particularly those that remained for many years because they were revered by local residents as “holy trees.” The pine trees form the upper story of the forest while the Quercus calliprinos and other evergreen shrubs form the lower one.

A Quercus calliprinos forest grows in the areas at an altitude of higher than 200 meters and in the damper parts of the mountain. There are beautiful groves on the slopes above Kibbutz Yagur, near Nahal Kelah (known as Little Switzerland), and in Keren Hacarmel. The trees are relatively small and have only one trunk. The leaves are stiff, shiny dark green with sharp spines around the edges. On the same tree are male and female flowers: The male flowers grow as a catkin, a long cylindrical cluster of small flowers without petals. The female flower grows as a nut called an acorn, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule.

In the Scriptures the species of oak are not distinguished from one another: Gen 35:4, Gen 35:8, Josh 24:26, Judg 6:11, Judg 6:19, 2 Sam 18:9, 2 Sam 18:10, 2 Sam 18:14, 1 Ki 13:14, Isa 1:30, Isa 6:13, Isa 44:14, Ezek 6:13, Hosea 4:13, Psa 29:9, Psa 56:1, Isa 1:29, Isa 2:13 (for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan),Isa 57:5, Isa 61:3, Ezek 27:6, Amos 2:9, Zec 11:2.

Oaks were one of the sources of tannin necessary for tanning hides. Tanning is mentioned in Acts 10:6.Acorns are important food for animals and were used for making flour or roasted for acorn coffee.

The Kermes Oak was historically important as the food plant of the Kermes insect from which a red dye was obtained and used toward the end of the second Holy Temple (70 CE). The color red, translated as ‘scarlet,’ or ‘crimson,’ in Hebrew is usually referred to as ‘shani’ or more fully as ‘tolaat shani.’ (In Chronicles, the color is referred to as karmil: “with purple and blue and crimson yarn”, II Chron. 2:6,13). The “scarlet worm”, Tola`ath shani, “scarlet,” Cermes vermilio is a scale-insect which feeds upon the oak and it is not a worm. The female is wingless and adheres to its favorite plant by its long, sucking beak, by which it extracts the sap on which it lives. After once attaching itself it remains motionless, and when dead its body shelters the eggs which have been deposited beneath it. The males, which are smaller than the females, pass through a complete metamorphosis and develop wings. The dye is made from the dried bodies of the females.

The word ‘crimson’ comes from kermes, although the color produced was more of an orange-red. The Cermes vermilio also gave rise to one other word for red, vermillion (Latin “worm-colored”, from vermiculus, the Latin term for the kermes). Vermilion, in Hebrew shashar, also appears two times in the Bible (Ezek. 23:14 and Jer. 22:14). This red color was early known; “…and took a scarlet thread” (Gen 38:2). It was one of the colors of the ephod (Exo 28:6), the girdle (Exo 28:8), and the breastplate (Exo 28:15) of the high priest. It is also mentioned in various other connections (Jos 2:18; Sa2 1:24; Lam 4:5; Nah 2:3). A scarlet robe was in mockery placed on our Lord (Mat 27:28; Luk 23:11 Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD.

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

they shall be like wool (Isa 1:18).

Scarlet and crimson were the firmest of dyes, and thus not easily washed out.

The gundelia, is an edible spiny, thistle-like flowering plant, a member of the Aster family (Asteracea or Compositae). A member of this genus, tumbleweed Gundelia tournefortii, Galgal came under the spotlights in 1998, when its pollen grains were found on the Shroud of Turin. In modern Hebrew it is called Akuvit ha-galgal.” This name combines the Talmudic name for the plant (akkub), which survives in the modern Arabic name for the plant, with the Biblical Galgal. This species native to semi-desert areas of Jerusalem and the Near East is related to thistles and artichokes.

Some Bible scholars think that the tumbleweed of Psalm 83: 14 (“Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like galgal before the wind”) is akoub.
By the metaphor of galgal, the Psalmist is asking the Lord to make Israel’s enemies like galgal: although they look frightening, their base is weak. The whole plant can be driven by the wind and it will be gone.The use of this plant is apparently quite old, being mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud and the Bible. This is the plant called silybum by Dioscorides. Gundelia tournefortii blooms in Israel from February (in the semi-desert warm parts) to May (in Jerusalem). Some gather these plants in the wild for culinary purposes.
In March akoub plants are cut at the base and the prickles removed. The edible parts are the leaves, stems, roots, and undeveloped flower buds, the last mentioned being the most popular. The soft white part of the young leaves, the part between the root and the soil surface, is used by Bedouin and Arabs to make akkub soup. The most popular preparation for gundelia in the Palestinian Arab villages of northern Israel is one where the heads are cleaned and covered with a chopped meat mixture, they are fried in olive oil and then simmered in a lemony broth. The plant tastes like a cross between asparagus and artichoke. By mid-May, the akoub stem has separated from the root, allowing the entire plant to be carried by the wind. The whole plant is round—so that it can roll like a ball. When the seeds of the dead fruit are ready to be dispersed, the base of the stem is disconnected from the thick root by means of an especially weak tissue which develops at just the right time. The plant then rolls, driven by the wind, dispersing its seeds on steppe and field. (Galgal also means wheel in Hebrew; the plant’s name probably derived from its habit of rolling across the fields like a wheel).
Just before the round plant disconnects from the root, the plant appears frightening indeed—full of thistles and strong and stable looking. In fact the base of the plant is extremely weak and the whole plant can be easily driven by the wind. The sound of dry galgal plants rolling with the wind is a memorable experience to those who live amid these plants.Akoub’s dispersal takes place at about the same time as wheat harvest as indicated by the prophet Isaiah (17: 13)–“driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed (galgal) before a gale”.

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And you shall take on the first day the fruit of a goodly tree, date palm fronds, the branch of a leafy tree, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days” (Leviticus 23:40)
The Four Species are an etrog, a palm branch, two willow branches and three myrtle branches. The six branches are bound together and referred to collectively as the lulav. The etrog is held separately. During the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, with these four species in hand one recites a blessing and waves the species in a special ceremony (called na’anu’im – נענועים) in six directions (east, south, west, north, up and down, symbolizing the fact that God is everywhere). In biblical times, these so-called “four species” served as an offering of thanksgiving and celebration at harvest time.

The Torah chose four species according to those kinds which abound in the Land of Israel. Israel has a wide variety of climates and geography, and each of the Four Species of Sukkot represents a different climate and symbolism. The aravah and the etrog need large amounts of water to thrive, the palm tree (lulav) and hadas can do with less water.

The Bible does not specify the names of the species or their precise description, but tradition came to identify the Biblical words thus:

1.Etrog (Hebrew: אתרוג) is one of several varieties of citron, – the lower coastal areas and valleys – Symbol of Fertility – “The fruit of a goodly tree”. The only citrus known to have grown here in ancient times is the citron (etrog) described in the Bible as “the fruit of the glorious (hadar) tree” (Leviticus 24:40). In modern Hebrew hadar (glory, grandiosity, splendor) has come to refer to all citrus fruits. This is the only one of the four species which is actually a fruit. Its inclusion symbolizes the zenith of agricultural development, when the farmers of Israel were able to spare the time and effort to raise fruit trees for their majesty and beauty.
The etrog produces fruit throughout the year. The pittom or stigma (the fruit’s female organ) stays attached to the fruit, even after it has ripened. In some species the pittom protrudes prominently from the fruit. This also explains how the etrog has become a symbol of fertility.

2.Lulav (Hebrew: לולב) is a ripe, green, closed frond of the date palm tree – Palm trees love hot and dry climates, but they don’t give much fruit along the coast, where it may be hot in the summer but it’s also very humid, they prefer the deserts – Symbol of Victory. In the Second Temple Period, the palm was a symbol of victory: “They came to the fort in Jerusalem with praise and with date fronds and with lyres and with harps,” the Book of Maccabees, following a Jewish victory over the Greeks. The fronds are reminders of the Jewish people’s 40-year wandering in the desert – Date palms also appeared on Jewish victory coins of that period.

3.Hadas (Hebrew: הדס, pl. hadassim – הדסים) is a bough of the myrtle tree – Hadassim prefer the colder mountainous regions – Symbol of Immortality and Success. The Hadas reminds the forest thickets that the Israelites found covering the hill country when they entered the land in the days of Joshua. The Hadas, myrtle is characterized by its leafy branches that also cover the trunk of the tree. Its branches remain upright and fresh long after cutting. It withstands drought; even after fire, the myrtle pushes out new leaves. To the renaissance, since it was forever green, it symbolized everlasting love.

4.Aravah (Hebrew: ערבה, pl. aravot – ערבות) is a leafy branch of the willow tree – The Aravah grows only within a few meters of streams that flow all year long – Symbol of Dependence on Water. Willows only flourish in water; they wilt the day that they are cut. Willows grow along the banks of the Jordan River, where the Israelites encamped before crossing into the Promised Land.

The Midrash (ancient Rabbinic commentary) finds symbolism in the four agricultural species – the four species correspond to four kinds of Jew.

The etrog has both tasty fruit and a good smell. It represents those who keep the Torah and also do good deeds; The lulav has tasty fruit (dates) but no smell. It represents those who keep the Torah, but don’t do good deeds; The hadas, the myrtle has a fresh smell but no fruit. It represents those who do good deeds but do not keep the Torah; The aravah has no fruit and no smell. It represents those who do not keep Torah and do no good deeds.

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