The Rose of Sharon is a flower of uncertain identity mentioned in English language translations of the Bible. The word in question is the Hebrew חבצלת ḥăḇaṣṣeleṯ, which has been uncertainly linked to the words בצל beṣel, meaning 'bulb', and חמץ ḥāmaṣ, which is understood as meaning either 'pungent' or 'splendid' (The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon). The name first appears in 1611, when it was used in the King James Version of the Bible. According to an annotation at Song of Solomon 2.1 by the translation committee of the New Revised Standard Version, this is a mistranslation of the Hebrew word for "crocus". Different scholars have suggested that the biblical "Rose of Sharon" is one of the following plants: Field of Poppy flowers Cluster of Clivia miniata flowers A flower, (<Old French flo(u)r<Latin florem<flos), also known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The word Bible refers to the canonical collections of sacred writings of Judaism and Christianity. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... Events June 23 - Henry Hudsons crew maroons him, his son and 7 others in a boat November 1 - At Whitehall Palace in London, William Shakespeares romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time. ... H:For other uses of King James Version, see King James Version (disambiguation). ... The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, released in 1989, is an update of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). ...

• A "kind of crocus" ("Sharon", Harper's Bible Dictionary) or a "crocus that grows in the coastal plain of Sharon" (New Oxford Annotated Bible);
• Tulipa montana, "a bright red tulip-like flower . . . today prolific in the hills of Sharon" ("rose", Harper's Bible Dictionary);
• Tulipa agenensis, the Sharon tulip, a species of tulip suggested by a few botanists; or
• Lilium candidum, more commonly known as the Madonna lily, a species of lily suggested by some botanists, though likely in reference to the "lily of the valleys" mentioned in the second part of Song of Solomon 2.1.

Today, the name is also commonly applied to two different plants, neither of which is likely to have been the plant from the Bible: Species See text. ... Species See text Tulip (Tulipa) is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Liliaceae. ... Binomial name Lilium candidum {{{author}}} The Madonna Lily (Lilium candidum) is a plant in the genus Lilium, a true lily. It is native to Asia Minor. ... The Madonna Lily The Madonna Lily: (Lilium candidum) is a plant in genus Lilium, which means it is what is considered a True Lily. It is an endangered species as it is very pretty looking and has been overcollected. ... lily is the best name in the whole wide world. ... Binomial name Convallaria majalis L. Convallaria majalis, commonly known as the Lily of the Valley, is the sole member of the genus Convallaria in the flowering plant family Ruscaceae. ...

• Hypericum calycinum, an evergreen flowering shrub native to southeast Europe and southwest Asia, and the plant generally referred to in British and Australian English as "Rose of Sharon"; and
• Hibiscus syriacus, a deciduous flowering shrub native to east Asia, the plant generally referred to in American English as "Rose of Sharon" and the national flower of South Korea. The flower's name in Korean is mugunghwa (Korean Hangul: 무궁화, Hanja: 無窮花).

Binomial name Hypericum calycinum L, Hypericum calycinum, commonly called the Rose of Sharon, is a shrubby species of Hypericum, family Clusiaceae, noted for its much larger flowers than most other species in the genus. ... A Silver Fir shoot showing three successive years of retained leaves In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant which retains its leaves year-round, with each leaf persisting for more than 12 months. ... A broom shrub in flower A shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 6 m tall. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Australian English (AuE) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... Binomial name H. syriacus L. Hibiscus syriacus, the common garden Hibiscus, is also confusingly called Rose of Sharon in some areas, a name originally applied to other plants. ... Deciduous means temporary or tending to fall off (deriving from the Latin word decidere, to fall off). ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... English language spread in the United States. ... For other uses, see Hangul (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Sino-Korean be merged into this article or section. ...

Works cited

• Crawford, P. L. (1985). “Rose”, P. J. Achtmeiter (gen. ed.): Harper's Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harper, 884.
• Davidson, Benjamin [1848] (1970). The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, 1st softcover ed., Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 246. ISBN 0-310-39891-6.
• Lapp, N. L. (1985). “Sharon”, P. J. Achtmeiter (gen. ed.): Harper's Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harper, 933–4.
• Scott, R. B. Y. (1991). “Annotations to Song of Solomon”, The New Oxford Annotated Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 854 OT.

External links

• "Why use a scientific name?" — Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney ("Rose of Sharon" cited as an example of why use of scientific names is important to avoid confusion)
• Jesus as the Rose of Sharon - by Mike Bradley

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