Rose of Sharon

The Rose of Sharon is a flower mentioned in the Bible. Today, the name is commonly applied to 2 plants, neither of which could have been the plant the Bible refers to:

• Hypericum calycinum, an evergreen flowering shrub native to southeast Europe and southwest Asia, and the plant generally referred to in British and Australian English; and
• Hibiscus syriacus, a deciduous flowering shrub native to east Asia, the plant generally referred to in American English and the national flower of South Korea.

The "rose" referred to in the Bible appeared in English in 1611 at the latest, when it is 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:

• 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.

Works cited

• Crawford, Patricia L. "rose." Harper's Bible Dictionary, p. 884. Paul J. Achtmeiter, gen. ed. HarperSanFrancisco, 1985.
• Lapp, Nancy L. "Sharon." Harper's Bible Dictionary, p. 933-4. Paul J. Achtmeiter, gen. ed. HarperSanFrancisco, 1985.
• Scott, R. B. Y. Annotations to Song of Solomon. The New Oxford Annotated Bible, p. 854 OT. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

External link

• Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney: "Why use a scientific name?" - "Rose of Sharon" cited as an example of why use of scientific names is important to avoid confusion.