PALM
24th March 2024
Photo Credit: dsgnsr, CANVA
QUOTATION
Good pilgrim you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrim’s hands do touch,
and palm to palm is holy palmer’s kiss.
JULIET: Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5
PALM (various species including Phoenix species)
Juliet uses a play on the word ‘palm’ to mean the hand but also the ‘palmers’, pilgrims who travelled to the holy land and brought back palm leaves. There are many types of trees which are commonly called ‘Palm’s. One of the more well known to Shakespeare’s audience would be the date palm. John Gerard (1597) described how to grew Palm trees in his garden in London but they suffered from the frost. He also says that the Date Palms grow in Africa and Egypt, but the best dates come from Syria and Palestine. He also says that the grow in the West and East Indies.
Today is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week in the Christian calendar. The passage in John 12: 12-13 is the Biblical source for the celebration of Palm Sunday, the arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem: “On the morrow a great multitude that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus should come to Jerusalem took branches of palm tree, and went forth to meet him, and cried Hosanna.”
The Date Palm has a long history of cultivation by human communities and continues to provide food and shade in many countries. There are over 182 Genera in the Arecaceae Family and there is a rich diversity of Palm species throughout the world.
More Information
Folger Shakespeare: Search Shakespeare’s Work
Geneva Bible 1599 Edition: John 12: 12-13
IUCN Palm Specialist Group: Visit Site
