Thymelaea hirsute, Shaggy Sparrow-Wort, Spur flax,
מתנן שעיר
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| | Scientific name: |
| Thymelaea hirsute (L.) Endl. |
| Common name: |
| Shaggy Sparrow-Wort, Spur flax |
| Hebrew name: |
| מתנן שעיר, Mitnan |
| Family: |
| Thymelaeaceae, מתנניים |
Date Picture Taken: October 26, 2007
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| | Life form: |
| Phanerophyte, shrub |
| Leaves: |
| Alternate, entire |
| Flowers: |
| Yellow |
| Flowering Period: |
| March, April, May, June, July |
| Habitat: |
| Batha, Phrygana |
| Distribution: |
| Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts |
| Chorotype, טיפוס התפוצה: |
| Med - Saharo-Arabian |
| Summer shedding: |
| Perenating |
Date Picture Taken: January 25, 2008
Derivation of the botanical name:
Thymelaea , Greek thymon, θύμον, thyme; and olive, referring to the thyme-like foliage and the small olive-like fruit.
hirsuta, rough, shaggy, bristly; hairy.
- The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
- The standard author abbreviation Endl. is used to indicate Stephan Friedrich Ladislaus Endlicher (1804 – 1849), an Austrian botanist.
The plant is also mentioned in the Bible in the story of Samson and Delilah and the wet ropes that were not dried:
Samson answered her, If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man (Judges 16:7).
Michael Zohary (1898-1983) suggests that the Arabic name "mitnan" is a cognate of the biblical Mattanah or Matnan (Numbers 12:19), Ethnan (I Chronicles $:7), Mattenai (Nehemiah 12:19, and Matan (Jeremiah 38:1).
Thymelaea hirsuta is growing in desert, sub-desert, sandy habitats of the coastal plain, and marly ground of Mount Carmel.
A Bedouin shepherd, knowing that Thymelaea hirsuta is poisonous, might relate that it has no use at all. In some cases eradicating the bushes of Thymeleae hirsute, for the sheep do not touch it and considering these bushes water thieves, for their deep and widespread roots enable them to deprive the pasture of a great amount of water.
The same Bedouin will use Thymelaea hirsuta as a good source of fibers from which strings, thick cords and ropes may be made, for different purposes.
In the Negev the Bedouin use the dried inner bark of Thymelaea hirsuta as a tinder by placing a small quantity on a flint stone and igniting the fibres by striking with an iron striker.
Thymelaea hirsuta (mitnan) has been used since 1979 as a new fiber source for handmade paper in Beer Sheva, Israel. It was chosen because it is a member of the Thymelaeaceae, which provides bast fiber for hand papermaking in the Orient. Mitnan paper is used primarly by artists, but also by paper conservators for repairing documents and works of art.
Date Picture Taken: January 30, 2008
Date Picture Taken: April 2, 2008
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