Shabbos 37: Rotem
There were lots of fun trees in perek 2 (bameh madlikin) but so far perek 3 has been alll about hot water and how you can heat it on shabbos. While today is Daf 42, here’s a tree mention from a few days ago:
Shabbos Perek 3 Daf 37b
Rotem - The rabbis discuss that this wood makes a particularly strong fire, and “even” fires fueled with rotem wood can heat water on shabbos. It’s Rotem in Artscroll, while Sefaria translates it as a “broom tree” - I guess it looks like a broom sweeping the dessert?
https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.37b.2?lang=bi&with=Commentary&lang2=en
But wait! Isn’t Rotem a popular Israeli girls name? If I were to guess, I’d say that’s due to the pink and white flowers, and not the burnability (so to speak) of its wood...
Retama raetam is part of the Legumes family (Fabaceae). It’s native to North Africa, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Israel. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/333974-Retama-raetam
Its oils have historically been used to treat wounds. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21547844
