شجرة الخلاص

Shajarat al-khalas (شجرة الخلاص), kaff maryam (كف مريم), shajarat maryam (شجرة مريم) (Anastatica hierochuntica L.) is the English chastity tree or rose of Jericho, and is imported from Egypt, but it also grows in the Khartoum area. It is a woody herb with convoluted dry branches that look very much like the after-birth. In the Sudan, the plant is put in a glass of water beside the woman in labour. In time, the branches imbibe water and stretch. Through the principles of sympathetic magic, the uterus and the after-birth are expected to unfold likewise and deliver the baby. Water in which it is soaked is not drunk, but occasionally some of it is rubbed over the woman’s belly. Daoud Al-Antaki in Al-Tazkira mentioned that if the solution of this plant were taken by a woman in labour, it would hasten delivery of the baby and the after-birth. The after-birth is also called khalas; hence, the name of the plant may also be ‘the after-birth tree’.