Plants with Arabic Names
Mesua
شجرةُ الحديد
Mesua ferrea
Sri Lanka's national tree since 1986, famous for its iron-hard wood, belongs to the genus Mesua, named after Yuhanna ibn Masawayh (d. 857), physician and translator of Baghdad, whom Europe knew as Mesue.
- Source of the name
- Named after a scholar
- Named after
- Yuhanna ibn Masawayh (Mesue)
- Genus
- Mesua
- Species shown
- Mesua ferrea
The path between languagesIbn Māsawayh → Mesue → Mesua
Many medieval Latin medical books circulated under the name Mesue without being his; Singapore's National Parks Board attributes the genus name to Yuhanna ibn Masawayh himself, who translated Greek medical writings into Arabic.
In Sri Lanka it is called Na; it was declared the national tree in February 1986.
Alialb, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Sources
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