Camphire: (Heb. copher), mentioned in
(The Song of Solomon 1:14) (R.V., "henna-flowers");
(The Song of Solomon 4:13) (R.V., "henna"), is the al-henna of the Arabs, a native of
Egypt, producing clusters of small white and yellow odoriferous
flowers, whence is made the Oleum Cyprineum. From its leaves is made
the peculiar auburn dye with which Eastern women stain their nails and
the palms of their hands. It is found only at Engedi, on the shore of
the Dead Sea. It is known to botanists by the name Lawsonia alba or
inermis, a kind of privet, which grows 6 or 8 feet high. The margin
of the Authorized Version of the passages above referred to has "or
cypress," not with reference to the conifer so called, but to the
circumstance that one of the most highly appreciated species of this
plant grew in the island of Cyprus.
