Rose of Sharon

Rose of Sharon is a common name that applies to several different species of flowering plants that are highly valued throughout the world.

In Biblical origins it is a flower of uncertain identity translated as the Rose of Sharon in English language translations of the Bible. Etymologists have inconclusively linked the Biblical meaning 'bulb', and חמץ ḥāmaṣ, which is understood as meaning either 'pungent' or 'splendid'.

The name Rose of Sharon first appears in English in 1611 in the King James Version of the Bible, Song of Solomon 2:1, "I AM the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys."

It is commonly assumed by most people in Israel that, the Sharon plain being on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the Biblical passage refers to this flower, pancratium maritimum, pictured above.