Golden Drop

Podonosma orientalis, commonly called golden drop, is a low-lying, shrub-like flowering plant of the borage family, first described by Linnaeus. It is endemic to Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean, in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, and reaches Jordan, Iraq and western and southern Iran. It is a regular feature of the Judean and Samaritan deserts and is very common on Mount Carmel. Its leaves and stems are covered in green or whitish hairs, and it flowers between February and June, with yellow-white and light blue flowers. In Arabic it is called maṣīṣ, and its Hebrew name comes from that. It grows as a subshrub on vertical and sloping limestone outcrops. The plant contains saponin, which makes a soapy lather, and Arabs in Palestine broke off leaves and stems to form a wad for scouring pots and pans and for burnishing copper and silverware. In Arab folk medicine macerated leaves mixed with wheat flour were warmed as a compress on the head to relieve migraine. The flowers are edible.