THE ROSE OF SHARON

SHARON
Sharon is pronounced "Share-en". It is a popular first name as well
as a last name. It originates from the Hebrew or Irish, "a fertile plain". This plain
is between Jaffa (today, known as the port-city of TelAviv, in Israel) and Mount Carmel (today, known as Haifa, another Port city in Israel). It also means princess.

NAME VARIANTS
There are 28 Variants to the name, including Charin, Cheron, Shara,Shari and Sherry etc.

FAMOUS PEOPLE
Some famous people include, Sharon Stone, Sharon Gless, and Ariel Sharon.

Sharon Vonne Stone was born March 10, 1958 in Meadville, PA. She was the 2nd of 4 children. She is an actress, producer, and fashion model. The movie that made her famous was a 1992 film titled “Basic Instinct”.

Ariel Sharon was born Ariel Scheinermann on February 27, 1928. He was an Israeli Prime Minister and military leader, until his massive stroke in 2006 and a subsequent coma; since February 2008, he has remained in a vegetative state. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 to April 2006. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took power of the office of Prime Minister after his stroke. Ariel Sharon created the Kadima party and won office in 2001. He was the first prime minister of Israel that did not belong to the two parties which have existed for years, the Labor Party and the Likud Party.

THE ROSE OF SHARON

There are many theories as to what is the flower or shrub which has been referred to as the “Rose of Sharon” since the Biblical Days. A common theory of Biblical Scholars is that the “Rose of Sharon” is Pancratium maritimum, a flower which blooms in the late summer just above the high tide mark. Other Biblical Scholars suggest that “Rose of Sharon” may be

1. A “kind of crocus” (“Sharon”, Harper’s Bible Dictionary), or a Crocus that grows in the coastal plain of Sharon” (New Oxford Annotated Bible).

2. Tulipa agenensis, the Sharon tulip ( a species of tulip)

3. Tulipa montana, a bright red flower that looks like a tulip (teeming in the hills of Sharon).

4. Lilium candidum or Madonna lily ( a species of lily)

Today, the “Rose of Sharon” is referred to two different plants. Neither one of these plants is the plant which the Bible refers.

1. Hypericum calycinum or evergreen flowering shrub (Southeast Europe and Southwest Asia
2. Famiy Malvaceae Genus: Hibiscus Species: syriacus called “althaea syriacus” is a deciduous flowering shrub (East Asia). This variety is one of the top 10 Hummingbird plants.

INTERESTING INFORMATION
In South Korea, the “Rose of Sharon” is the national flower. It is the symbol of the present and historic Yi Dynasty of the Korean Royal Family.
“In the USA, the Rose of Sharon is the official flower of Phi Beta Chi, a national Lutheran-based Greek social letter sorority”.
Rose of Sharon is the eldest daughter of the Joad family and sister or Tom Joad in the “Grapes of Wrath”, by John Steinbeck.
“The Red Shoes”, an album by Kate Bush of “The Song of Solomon” from 1993 references the Rose of Sharon.
Killswitch Engage wrote a song titled “The Rose of Sharyn” from their album “The End of Heartache”.
Jesus is symbolically referred to as “The Rose of Sharon”.