The Peepul or Bo-tree (Ficus religiosa) is held sacred by Buddhists as the Holy Tree and the Tree of Knowledge.
The Burmese Buddhists surround their Pagodas and religious houses with trees, for which they entertain a high regard. The first holy men dwelt under the shade of forest trees, and from that circumstance, in the Burmese cultus, every Budh is specially connected with some tree—as Shin Gautama with the Banyan, under which he attained his full dignity, and the Shorea robusta, under which he was born and died—and, as we are told, the last Budh of this world cycle, Areemadehya, will receive his Buddhaship under the Mesua ferrea.
The Burman also regards the Eugenia as a plant of peculiar sanctity—a protective from all harm. The Jamboa, or Rose Apple, is held in much reverence in Thibet, where it is looked upon as the representative of the mystical Amrita, the tree which in Paradise produces the amrita or ambrosia of the gods.
The Cedar has always been regarded by the Jews as a sacred tree; and to this day the Maronites, Greeks, and Armenians go up to the Cedars of Lebanon, at the Feast of the Transfiguration, and celebrate Mass at their feet.
To the ancient inhabitants of Northern Europe the Elm and the Ash were objects of especial veneration. Many sacred trees or pillars, formed of the living trunks of trees, have been found in Germany, called Irminseule, one of which was destroyed by Charlemagne in 772, in Westphalia.
The Mountain Ash, or Rowan Tree, was, in olden times, an object of great veneration in Britain; and in Evelyn’s day was reputed of such sanctity in Wales, that there was not a churchyard that did not contain one.
The colossal Baobab (Adansonia) is worshipped as a divinity by the negroes of Senegambia. The Nipa or Susa Palm (Nipa fruticans) is the sacred tree of Borneo. The gigantic Dragon Tree (Dracæna Draco) of Orotava was for centuries the object of deep reverence to the aborigines of the Canary Isles. The Zamang of Guayra, an enormous Mimosa, has from time immemorial been held sacred in the province of Caracas. The Moriche Palm (Mauritia flexuosa) is considered a deity by the Tamancas, a tribe of Oronoco Indians, and is held sacred by the aboriginal Mexicans.
The Nelumbo, or Sacred Bean (Nelumbium speciosum), was the Lotus adored by the Ancient Egyptians, who also paid divine honours to the Onion, Garlic, Acacia, Laurel, Peach-tree, Lentils of various sorts, and the Heliotrope. Wormwood was dedicated to Isis, and Antirrhinum (supposed to be the ancient Cynocephalia, or Dog’s Head) to Osiris.
The sacred Lotus of the East, the flower of the
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