The People of Palestine: An enlarged edition of "The Peasantry of Palestine, Life, Manners and Customs of the Village"Grant, Elihu
General
The People of Palestine: An enlarged edition of "The Peasantry of Palestine, Life, Manners and Customs of the Village"
Grant, Elihu
Palestine -- Social life and customs; Palestinian Arabs -- Social life and customs; Peasants -- Palestine
The flower season really begins in what we should call midautumn with
the little lavender-colored crocus called by the natives the _serâj
el-ghûleh_ or _the lamp of the ghoul_. A better name for it would be
_serâj esh-shugâ‛_ which would mean _the lamp of courage_, as it thrusts
its dainty head up through the calcined earth, scarcely waiting for a
drop of moisture. After this brave little color-bearer of Flora’s troop
there follow the narcissus, heavily sweet, and the cyclamen, clinging
with its ample bulb in rocky cracks as well as nestling in moist beds.
But of all the flowers the general favorite is the wild anemone,
especially in its rarer varieties, white, pink, salmon, blue and purple.
The most common is the red anemone, which is seen everywhere and
sometimes measures four or five inches across. Near Dayr Dîwân we once
rode through an orchard where the ground was covered with a cloud of
these red ones, so voluptuous, so prodigally spread in a carpet of
crimson beauty that one almost held one’s breath at the charming scene.
The red ranunculus, which comes later, is almost as large, but it looks
thick and heavy in comparison, and the flaunting red poppy, which comes
still later, looks weak and characterless beside the anemone. Even the
wild red tulip suffers beside it. The colors of the anemone other than
red are more rare, but usually come earlier. About Jaffa they appear
shortly after Christmas. White ones and some of delicate shades are
found between there and the river ‛Aujâ. White ones abound near Jifnâ,
and are found east of Ḳubâb and east of Sejed station. Purple, pink and
blue ones are plentiful in Wâdy el-Kelb and the Khullet el-‛Adas near
Râm Allâh. The large red ranunculus mentioned is found in large patches
between Jericho and the Dead Sea in early February. Considerably later
there is an acre-patch east of Dayr Dîwân near the cliff descent towards
eṭ-Ṭayyibeh. The red tulip is rarer and follows soon. The red poppy is
very abundant. It has the delicacy of crêpe. It is scarcely welcome as
it betokens the close of the flower season. But one may for some time
yet gather flowers that blaze forth as brilliantly in middle spring as
do the autumn flowers in America: the adonis, gorse, flax, mustard,
bachelor’s button, anise, vetch, everlasting, wild mignonette and
geranium. In the vineyards, about pruning time, the ground is covered
with a rich purple glow. The sweet-scented gorse abounds in the valleys
towards Ṭayyibeh. The vetches come in many colors, and there are scores
of other scarcely noticed little blossoms.
When the season has been especially rainy, as may occur about every
fifth or sixth year, the valleys such as ‛Ayn Fâra will be knee-deep
with the abundant flowering herbs and weeds. The scented jasmine and the
tall waving reeds over the watercourse will add their charm to this
favored spot. Later, yellow thistles abound.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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