Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/190

 PLANTS

152

PLANTS

hence it is generally believed to be either the acanth, Acanthus spinosits, or rest-harrow, two species of which, Ononis anliquorum, and particularly 0. leio- sperma, Boiss., are very common in the Holy Land. (2) Heb. barganim (Judges, \-iii, 7, 16) probably corre- sponds to the numerous species of Rubus which abound in Palestine; according to Moore (Judges, ad loc), Phaceopappiis scoparius, Boiss., is intended. (3) Heb. khedeq (Rlich., vii, 4). See Mad-apple. (4) Heb. shamir (Is., v, 6; ix, 18; x, 17; x.xxii, 13), the flexible Paliurus acideatus, Lam., Arab, samur, the supposed material of Christ's crown of tlioms. (5) Heb. shayth (Is., TO, 23-5), a word not found outside of Isaias, and possibly designating prickly bushes in general.

Broom. See Juniper.

Buckthorn. See Bramble.

Bulrush represents three Heb. words: (1) gome (Ex., ii, 3; Is., x^-iii,2; xxxv, 7), Cyperus papyrus, is now extinct in Egj-pt (cf. Is., xix, 6-7), where it was formerly regarded as the distinctive plant of the country (Strab., xvdi, 15) and the Nile was styled "the pap}Tus-bearer " (Ovid., "Metam.", xv, 753), but still grows around the Lake of Tiberias, Lake Huleh. (2) 'Agjnon (A. V., Is., Iviii, 5; D. V. "circle") is variously rendered (D. V. Is., xix, 15; Job, xl, 21). The plant wliose flexibility is alluded to in Is., hTii, 5, A. V. appears to be either the common reed, Armido donax, or some kind of rush: J uncus communis, J. maritimus, Lam., J. acutus are abundant in Palestine. (3) Suph (Is., xix, 6; A. V. "flag"; etc.), Eg\-pt. tUf, probably designates the various kinds of rush and sea-weeds (Jon.,ii, 6). Foin Siip/i is the Hebrew name for the Red Sea.

Bur, so, D.V.,Os.,ix, 6; x, 8, translating Vulg. Zappa, "burdock", for Heb. khoakh and gosh. Khoakh recurs in Prov., xx\-i, 9; Cant., ii, 2 (D. V. "thorns"); IV Kings, xiv, 9; II Par., xx-v, 18; Job, xxxi, 40 (D. V. "thistle"); "thorn" is the ordinarj' meaning of gosh. If burdock is the equivalent of khoakh, then Lappa major, D. C, growing in Lebanon is signified, as Lappa minor, D. C, is unknown in Palestine; however, the many kinds of thistles common in the East suit better the description. Yet, from the resemblance of Arab, khaukh with Heb. khoakh, some species of black- thorn or sloe tree Prunus ursina, and others, Arab. khaukh al-dib might be intended.

Burnet. See Thistle (5).

Bush, Burning, Heb. seiich, "thorny" (Ex., iii, 2-4; Deut., xxxiii, 16), probably a kind of whitethorn of goodly proportions {Crato'gus sinaitica, Boiss.) common throughout the Sinaitic Peninsula. Arab. sanTia is applied to all thorny shrubs.

Calamus, Heb. ganeh (Ex., xxx, 23; Ezech., xx\'ii, 19; Cant., iv, 14, and Is., .xMii, 24; D. V. "sweet cane"; Jer., vi, 20: "sweet-smelling cane"), a scented reed yielding a perfume entering into the composition of the spices burned in sacrifices (Is., xliii, 24; Jer., vi, 20) and of the oil of unction (Ex., xxx, 23-5). The ganeh is, according to some, Andropogon schoenaiithus, which was used in Egypt for making the Kyphi or sacred perfume; accordingtoothers, Acorusaromaticus.

Cane, Sweet (Cant., iv, 14; Is., .\liii, 24). See Calamus.

Cane, Sweet-smelling (Jer., \'i, 20). See Calamus.

Camphire (A. V., Song of Sol., i, 14; D. V. iv, 13; "cypress"). From Heb. A-op/icr. The modern " cam- phor" was unknown to the ancients. Pliny identifies Cyprus with the ligustrum of Italy, but the plant is no other than the henna tree (Lawsonia alba) ihe Orientals are so fond of. Its red sweet-scented spikes (D. V., Cant., i, 13: "clusters") yield the henna oil; from its powdered leaves is obtained the reddish-orange paste with which Eastern women stain their finger and toe nails and dye their hair. Ascalon and Engaddi were particularly renowmed for their henna.

Caper, Heb. abiyyonah (D. V., Eccl., xii, 5), the fruit of the caper tree, probably Capparis spinosa;

C. herbacea, and C. cegyptiaca are also found in Pales- tine.

Carob, Greek Kepdnov (Luke, xv, 16), translated "husks" (A. v.; D. V.), the coarse pods of the locust tree, Ceratonia siligua, "St. John's bread-tree".

Cassia, Heb. qiddah (Ex., xxx, 24; Ezech., xxTii, 19;

D. V. "stacte"). Egypt, gad, the aromatic bark of Cinnamomum cassia, Bl., of India, an ingredient of the oil of unction (Ex., xxx, 24), and the Eg}'ptian Kyphi. In Ps. xhv (A. V., xlv, 8), 9, qe^ah, the Aramaic equivalent of giddah, is possibly an explana- tion of 'ahaloth. There is no Biblical reference to the cassia, from which the senna of medicine is obtained.

Cedar, indiscriminately applied to Cedrus libani, C. bermudensis, Juniperus virginiana, and Cu- pressus thyoides, as Heb. 'erez was used for three different trees: (1) The cedar wood employed in certain ceremonies of purification (Lev., xiv, 4, 6; 49-52; Num., xix, 6) was either Juniperus phcmicea, or J. oxycedrus, which pagans burned during sacri- fices and at funeral piles (Hom., "Odyss.", v, 60; Ovid., "Fast.", ii, 558), and Plinv calls "little cedar" (Nat. Hist., XIII, i, 30). (2) The tree growing "by the water side" (Num., xxiv, 6) appears from Ez., xxxi, 7, to be the Cedrus libani, which usually thrives on dry mountain slopes. (3) In most of the other passages of Holy Writ, Cedrus libani, Barr, is intended, which "prince of trees", by its height (Is.,ii, 13; Ezech., xx>d, 3,8; Am.,ii, 9), appropriately figured the mighty East- ern empires (Ezech., xxxi, 3-lS, etc.). From its trunk ship-masts (Ezech., xx\ii, 5), pillars, beams, and boards fortemples and palaces (III Kings, vi, 9; to, 2) were made; its hard, close-grained wood, capable of re- ceiving a high poUsh, was a suitable material for carved ornamentations (III Kings, vi, 18) and images (Is., xliv, 14-5). Cedar forest s were a paradise of aromatic scent, owing to the fragrant resin exuding from every pore of the bark (Cant., iv, 11 ; Osee, xiv, 7) ; they were "theglory of Libanus" (Is., xxxv, 2; Ix, 13), as well as a source of riches for their possessors (III Kings, V, 6 sqq.; I Par., xxii, 4) and an object of envy to the powerful monarchs of Nineveh (Is., xxxvii, 24; inscr. of several Assyrian kings).

Cedrat, Citrus medica, or C. cedra is, according to the Syriac and Arabic Bibles, the "Targum" of Onkelos, Josephus (Ant. Ill, x, 4) and the Talmud (Sukka, iii, 5), the hadar (D. V. "the fairest tree") spoken of in Lev., xxiii, 40, in reference to the feast of Tabernacles.

Centaurea. See Thistles.

Charlock. See Mustard.

Chestnut-tree. See Plane-tree.

Cinnamon, Heb. qinnamon (Ex., xxx, 23; Prov., vii, 17; Cant., iv, 14; Ecclus., xxiv, 20; Apoc, xviii, 13), the inner aromatic bark of Cinnamomum zeylan- icum, Nees, an ingredient of the oil of unction and of the Kyphi.

Citron, Citrus limonum, supposed by some Rab- bis to be intended in the text of Lev., xxiii, 40: "boughs of hadar", used regularly in the service of the svnagogue and hardlv distinguishable from cedrat. " Cockle, A. v., Job, xxxi, 40, for Heb. be'osha: D. V. "thorns". The marginal renderings of A. V. and R. V. "stinking weeds", "noisome weeds", are much more correct. D. V., Matt., xiii, 24-30, translates the Greek fifdna by cockle. The two names used in the original text point to plants of quite different char- acters: (1) According to etymology, be'osha must refer to some plant of offensive smell; besides the stink-weed {Datura stramonium) and the ill-smell- ing goose-weeds (Solanutn 7ngrum) there are several fetid arums, henbanes, and mandrakes in Palestine, hence be'osha appears to be a general term applicable to all noisome and harmful plants. In the English Bibles, Is., v, 2, 4, the plural form is translated by "wild grapes", a weak rendering in view of the terrible judgment pronounced against the vineyard in the con-