Spring is in the air... Shoham Forest Shoham Forest Park is located in the hills of the Coastal Plain and KKL-JNF has prepared a circular, 5-kilometer route in this pine forest. Two weeks ago I was looking for flowers and could not find something "special"; today my camera did not rest. The forest burst into life with an impressive display of blooming : Adonis microcarpa, Small Pheasant's Eye, דמומית קטנת-פרי, Amygdalus communis, Common Almond, שקד מצוי, Anchusa aegyptiaca, Egyptian Alkanet, לשון-פר מצרית, Anemone coronaria, Crown Anemone, כלנית מצויה, Anthemis pseudocotula, Common Chamomile, קחוון מצוי, Asphodelus aestivus, Common Asphodel, עירית גדולה, Bellevalia flexuosa, Common Roman Squill, זמזומית מצויה, Biscutella didyma, Buckler Mustard, מצלתיים מצויות, Lathyrus blepharicarpus , Ciliate Vetchling, טופח ריסני, Leontodon tuberosa, Bulbous Dandelion, קרם כתמה עבת-שורשים, Malva nicaeensis, Mallow, חלמית מצויה, Papaver subpiriforme, Corn Poppy, פרג אגסני, Scandix verna, Venus Comb, מסרק איברי, Sedum microcarpum, Small-Fruited Stonecrop, צורית קטנת-פרית, Silene aegyptiaca, Egyptian Campion, ציפורנית מצרית, Silene colorata, Cloven-Petalled Campion, ,צפורנית מגוונת Sinapis alba, White Mustard, חרדל לבן, Tetragonolobus palaestinus, Lotus palaestinus,ארבע-כנפות מצויות, Trifolium clypeatum, Helmet Clover,לתן תריסני, Trifolium pauciflorum, תלתן דל-פרחיםת, Trifolium pupureum, Purple Clover, תלתן הארגמן, Trifolium spumosum, תלתן הקצף, and more... The hilly park route is strewn with archeological sites from Mishnaic and Talmudic times, with wine and olive presses, cisterns and storage caves. At the ‘Owl site,’ a Byzantine Church in the name of St.Bacchus or Bakchos ( a third century Roman soldier who is commemorated as martyr by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches). was discovered, with a mosaic floor and olive press. At the top of a hill a memorial for the soldier, Guy Sodai, who fell in Lebanon in1994, honors ‘the ends of the earth’ as its look-out post is open to the four directions of earth. A beautiful park! photos were taken February 29, 2008 Byzantine Church, St.Bacchus Guy Sodai trail