Platanus orientalis, Oriental Plane Tree,
Hebrew: דולב מזרחי, Arabic: الدلب المشرقي

Scientific name:		Platanus orientalis L.
Common name:		Oriental Plane Tree
Hebrew name:		דולב מזרחי
Arabic name:		الدلب المشرقي
Family:		Platanaceae, דלביים

Location: Golan, Banias

Life form:		Tree
Leaves:		Alternate, entire, dentate or serrate
Flowers:		Green
Flowering Period:		April, May
Habitat:		Humid habitats
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Derivation of the botanical name: Platanus, πλατανοϛ, "the plane tree". orientalis, "eastern", "oriental"; of the East. The Hebrew name:דולב, dolev, from Aramaic, דולבא, dilba, and preserved the name in Arabic: دلب, Dulb. Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim, Dilb, so called because of a grove of plane (dolev) trees growing there. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. In the Bible the Platanus orientalis is usually mentioned along with willows and poplars, which grow normally only in moist low ground. Henry Baker Tristram (1822-1906) in The Natural History of the Bible: "Chestnut,- The Hebrew word, 'armôn, occurs twice in the Old Testament (Gen. XXX.37; Ez. XXXI.8). In both cases it is translated Chestnut in our version, but more correctly in the Septuagint, Plane tree, i.e., the Oriental Plane tree (Platanus orientalis). There can be little doubt of this rendering, which is supported by all critics. We never saw the Chestnut in Palestine, excepting planted in orchards in Lebanon; while the Plane tree, though local, is frequent by the sides of streams and in plains, both on the coast and in the northern parts of the country. The 'armôn is in Genesis associated with the Willow and Poplar, which, like the Plane tree, grow on low ground where the soil is rich and humid. ...The Hebrew name, 'armôn, signifies 'naked,' and it is a characteristic of the Plane tree that it annuallly sheds its outer bark." Bible resources: Genesis 30:37 Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. Ezekiel 31:8 The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor could the junipers equal its boughs, nor could the plane trees compare with its branches— no tree in the garden of God could match its beauty. Ecclesiasticus 24:14 (NRSV Apocrypha book also known as The Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach) I grew tall like a palm tree in En-gedi, and like rosebushes in Jericho; like a beautiful olive tree in the field,and like a plane tree by the water. Location: Golan, Banias Location: Kibbutz Hagoshrim