Christ's Thorn

Ziziphus spina-christi, known as the Christ's thorn jujube, is a thorny, evergreen tree. It is native to western Asia from the Levant and Sinai to Pakistan, the Arabian Peninsula, and northeastern, eastern and western Africa from Senegal to Somalia, Egypt and Tanzania. It grows in deserts, semi-deserts and savannas, often in wadis and washes, on stream and river banks. Wikipedia says that historically it was used in ancient Egyptian medicine for its supposed anti-inflammatory properties, in treating pain, swelling and heat. An in vitro study has suggested the plant might have anti-inflammatory properties; the article flags that source as non-primary. In the Levant and wider Middle East it is called sidr. By some traditions it was the tree from which the crown of thorns of Jesus was made. It is the national tree of Qatar.