The Sidra TreeIn the scorching sun, with no water or rain around, and no one but the author of life to defend and protect, Sidra stands nonchalantly firm, verdant, buoyant, vibrant and majestic. Like the sattasamavayin yogi, unaffected by the ups and downs of life (sukhe-dukhe same krtva - Gita 2:38) it remains unaffectedly verdant, resolutely resilient!
Sidr tree (Ziziphus spina-Christi), also known as Lote tree (also found as Ziziphus lotus-Christi), Christ's Thorn, Jujube or Nabkh tree. The Arabic equivalent of Lote is 'sidr' (when rendered in English, usually written as Sidra). In Qatar, however, it is generally written as Sidra only.
In the Qatari culture, the Sidra tree is the iconic symbol of the country's heritage. The Sidra has grown in the deserts of Qatar for generations. With roots that reach deep into the earth, fruit and flowers that nourish and leaves that heal, the Sidra became a beacon of comfort in the harsh desert environment, allowing life to flourish. The Sidra also provided shade and shelter to travellers and scholars, who would escape the desert heat, gather together and share knowledge.
Over time, the Sidra came to represent nourishment, strength and courage, as well as learning and growth. In the hearts and minds of the people of Qatar, the Sidra tree exemplifies perseverance, solidarity and determination. (source unknown)
It is the national tree of Qatar, about which Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, said:
"The Sidra tree, growing strong and proud in the harshest of environments, has been a symbol of perseverance and nourishment across the borders of the Arab world. What is the significance of this glorious tree? With its roots bound in the soil of this world and its branches reaching upwards toward perfection, it is a symbol of solidarity and determination; it reminds us that goals of this world are not incompatible with the goals of the spirit."
(Qatar Foundation Chairperson, at the inauguration of Education City, 13 October 2003)
Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1995 to develop people's abilities through investments in human capital, innovative technology, strategic partnerships and state-of-the-art facilities, has accepted Sidra as its logo taking into account the primacy of this tree in the lives of the desert dwellers and its health value.
Education City Convention Center of Doha, the headquarters of Qatar Foundation, designed by Arata Isozaki draws inspiration from the tree. Its massive entrance is supported by two massive 250-meter-long doubly curved steel Sidra trees. According to the Quran, they are a symbol of the knowledge of the divine. It symbolizes the support given to various branches of knowledge and scholarship by the centre.
Qatar government has made massive plantation efforts, especially in Doha, and even in the desert tracts of the small country along all its highways, with Sidra having the largest count. Qatar foundation promotes this as part of Quranic Botanical Garden, among the trees mentioned.
Sidra is a popular name for women in the Middle East. It is also said to mean 'of the stars or like a star'. It refers to a tree in heaven, mentioned twice in Quran.
On the coast of Libya, there is a broad inlet named Gulf of Sidra between the towns of Benghazi and Misratah.
Blooms and Fruits Sidra blooms after the summer, as winter approaches, and the flowers are cream-coloured and not all that eye-catching, but still beautiful. They are said to be ideal for the bees and honey of this region, especially, Yemen, said to be based on these flowers, is famous.
By December-January, the trees have fruits. The fruit has some local appeal in Qatar and perhaps, in all of the Middle East. It is likely that in the pre-oil era, after the dates, these were the only fruits of the desert, and served as a valuable nutritional resource for the people. It can still be utilised as a valuable addition to the diversity of food-nutrition basket of the region. In an agro-expo organised by Qatar Foundation, I had seen stalls exhibiting products of Sidra - Sidra dried and pulverised to form flour with which organic tea biscuits or cookies are made. However, I am afraid, with the oil-induced opulence, such considerations are of least significance for the region.
In the season of its fruits, they are available in the market - from a size of 1 cm to 2 inches in diameter. They are light green when ripe, but many prefer them when they turn brown. The bigger ones have become popular, and are most likely a product of hybridization, and are grown in the desert farms of the Middle East.
Interestingly, the Middle Eastern fruit is botanically named Ziziphus lotus christi or popularly known in Western circles as Christ's Thorn (Spina Christi) with the tradition that a crown of thorns of the tree was pressed onto the head of Christ as part of his persecution by the soldiers prior to his crucifixion.
In our Qatar campus, we have solemnly planted two saplings, after almost two years of stagnation, now they are growing - slow, but steady!
Indian Ziziphus - Ber In Northern India, ber is a very popular fruit, with hybridized versions in the market for past many decades. I think it is a kin of Sidra. My Botanist colleagues tell me that these are Ziziphus mauritiana (or Indian jujube). However, the fruit and the tree have a very ancient tradition, with reference to it in Ramayana, where the simple Ram devotee, the tribal mother Sabari, is said to have received Ram with great love, and to ensure that he is fed with the best of the fruits she had collected, would taste each one, and the sweeter ones thus tested would be passed on to Ram, who, the maryada purushottam that he is, would without any hesitation, accept and eat them. The modern Hindutwa is making efforts to 'tribal-wash' Hindutwa, by adulterating the simple and unadulterated devotion of Sabari, as a Hindu tradition of the tribal communities.
While the desert version of Ziziphus is a real, sturdy, evergreen tree, the sweeter Indian version appears to be more a shrub or a small tree, when compared to the great ones of the desert.
On my recent visit to Keralam, I found a small tree, bearing medium-sized fruits (about 1 inch in length) at the Sacred Heart Monastery campus, Thevara. Appears that planting Jujube (ber) is getting trendy among the Malayalees.
On Sacred Heart campus of Sitapur, our former manager Dr John had planted several plants of the hybridized one, and they grew to bear abundant fruit. One of his successors felt a concrete footpath was a greater priority for the campus and many of the sturdy fruit-bearing trees were sent to the valley of death. However, thankfully, we still have a plant or two on the campus.
https://loteandco.com/blogs/news/the-sidr-tree-lote-tree
https://balqees.com/the-story-of-the-precious-sidr-tree - YEMEN HONEY
The Sidra Tree
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