Plants of the Bible: Israel’s Chamomile

Anthemis palestina, Anthemis melanolepis, Cota palaestina, Israel’s Chamomile,

Hebrew: קחוון ארצישראלי, Arabic: قحوان فلسطيني

‘flowers of the field’ (tzitz ha-sadeh)

Scientific name:   Anthemis palestina Boiss.
Synonym name:   Cota palaestina Kotschy., Anthemis melanolepis Boiss.
Common name:   Israel’s Chamomile
Hebrew name:   קחוון ארצישראלי
Arabic name:   Oqhuwan, اقحوان فلسطيني, بَهار أَسْوَد الحَراشِف
Family:   Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים


Life form:   Therophyte, annual
Stems:   15-30 cm tall, many spreading basal branches
Leaves:   Alternate, dissected twice or more
Flowers:   Disc florets hermaphrodite, fertile; white, yellow
Fruits / pods:   Ribbed cypselae
Flowering Period:   March, April, May, June
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands,
Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Anthemis; Chamomile, from Greek chamos, “ground”, melos, “apple.” Anthemis is the Greek name for this plant which has a long history, as a flavoring herb and in medicine.

palestina, Palestine.
melanolepis, melas, μελαϛ, black, dark; lepis, scale.
The Hebrew word: קחוון, kahvan from Arabic, أقحوان,’aqhawan, קחואן.

  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.
  • The standard author abbreviation Kotschy. is used to indicate Carl George Theodor Kotschy (1813 – 1866), , an Austrian botanist and explorer.

In the Bible Anthemis palestina has a primary place among the ‘flowers of the field’ (tzitz ha-sadeh), used as a symbol of short-living creatures. The Hebrew term Tzitzit, ציצית (tassels) may be derived from the phrase tzitz ha-sadeh, flowers of the field. When a person wears and gazes at his Tzitzit (Numbers 15:37-39), he understands that they represent his function to be motzi min ha’koach el ha’poel , “maximize his potential” in order to realize his goal and objective in life.

Bible resources:

  1. Psalm 37:20
    But the wicked will perish: Though the LORD’s enemies are like the flowers of the field, they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.
  2. Psalm 103:15
    The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
  3. Isaiah 40:6
    A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
  4. Matthew 6:28
    “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
  5. 1 Peter 1:24
    For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,