Sycamine tree

Mentioned only in Luke 17:6. It is rendered by Luther “mulberry tree” (q.v.), which is most probably the correct rendering. It is found of two species, the black mulberry (Morus nigra) and the white mulberry (Mourea), which are common in Palestine. The silk-worm feeds on their leaves. The rearing of them is one of the chief industries of the peasantry of Lebanon and of other parts of the land. It is of the order of the fig-tree. Some contend, however, that this name denotes the sycamore-fig of Luke 19:4.

is mentioned only in (Luke 17:6) There is no reason to doubt that the sycamine is distinct from the sycamore of the same evangelist. (Luke 19:4) The sycamine is the mulberry tree (Morus). Both black and white mulberry trees are common in Syria and Palestine.

sik'-a-min, (sukaminos (Lu 17:6)): This is generally accepted as the black mulberry tree (Morus nigra; Natural Order, Urlicaceae), known in Arabic as tut shrami, "the Damascus mulberry," a fine tree which grows to the height of 30 ft. It produces the dark blood-red mulberry juice referred to in 1 Macc 6:34 (moron), "the blood of .... mulberries," which was shown to the elephants of the Syrians. The white mulberry, M. alba, has white and less juicy fruit, and it is cultivated largely for the sake of its leaves with which the silkworms of the Lebanon are fed.

E. W. G. Masterman