Scientific name: | Aegilops peregrina (Hackel) Maire et Weiler | |
Synonym name: | Aegilops variabilis Eig | |
Common name: | Goatgrass | |
Hebrew name: | בן-חיטה רב-אנפין | |
Arabic name: | دوسر أجنبي | |
Plant Family: | Graminea (Poaceae), Grass Family, משפחת הדגניים |
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Life form: | Therophyte annual | |
Stems: | Numerous stems, up to 40cm | |
Leaves: | Alternate, entire, glabrous or shortly hairy, smooth margin | |
Inflorescence: | Spike 1.5-3.5cm (excluding awns) | |
Flowers: | Green; glumes usually with 1 long awn; lower glume with all veins narrow and equal in width | |
Fruits / pods: | Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; hairy at apex | |
Flowering Period: | March, April, May | |
Habitat: | Batha, Phrygana | |
Distribution: | Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon | |
Chorotype: | Mediterranean | |
Summer shedding: | Ephemeral |
Derivation of the botanical name: Aegilops, from the Greek aegilos (a herb liked by goats, or a goat), with ‘goatlike’ (referring to whiskery-awned spikelets), literally, "goat in the eye". peregrina, peregrin, "foreign". variabilis, variabil, "variable". The Hebrew word: בן-חיטה, ben-chita , close to wheat, chita.
The Hebrew word used in Genesis 1:11 is "deshe", דשא. The word "grass" occurs 48 times in the Bible and about 460 different kinds of grasses are recorded from the Holy Land area by George E. Post (Flora of Syria, Palestine and Sinai; 1933). Bible resources:
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