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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
209
The
pomegranate,
with
its
mystic
origin
and
early
sacred
associations,
was
long
reverenced
by
the
Persians
and
Jews,
an
old
tradition
having
identified
it
as
the
forbidden
fruit
given
by
Eve
to
Adam.
Again,
as
a
sacred
plant
the
basil
has
from
time
immemorial
been
held
in
high
repute
by
the
Hindus,
having
been
sacred
to
Vishnu.
Indeed
it
is
worshipped
as
a
deity
itself,
and
is
invoked
as
the
goddess
Tulasî
for
the
protection
of
the
human
frame.
It
is
further
said
that
"the
heart
of
Vishnu,
the
husband
of
the
Tulasî,
is
agitated
and
tormented
whenever
the
least
sprig
is
broken
of
a
plant
of
Tulasî,
his
wife."
Among
further
flowers
holding
a
sacred
character
may
be
mentioned
the
henna,
the
Egyptian
privet
(Lawsonia
alba),
the
flower
of
paradise,
which
was
pronounced
by
Mahomet
as
"chief
of
the
flowers
of
this
world
and
the
next,"
the
wormwood
having
been
dedicated
to
the
goddess
Iris.
By
the
aborigines
of
the
Canary
Islands,
the
dragon-tree
(Dracoena
draco)
of
Orotava
was
an
object
of
sacred
reverence;
[4]
and
in
Burmah
at
the
present
day
the
eugenia
is
held
sacred.
[5]
It
has
been
remarked
that
the
life
of
Christ
may
be
said
to
fling
its
shadow
over
the
whole
vegetable
world.
[6]
"From
this
time
the
trees
and
the
flowers
which
had
been
associated
with
heathen
rites
and
deities,
began
to
be
connected
with
holier
names,
and
not
unfrequently
with
the
events
of
the
crucifixion
itself."
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