Tu B’Shevat, often referred to as the new year for trees and which begins this year on January 24, is a minor agricultural holiday that today encompasses a focus on ecology and environmentalism for many Jews. In honor of Tu B’Shevat, here’s a list of natural symbols that have become synonymous with the State of Israel and its people.

• Seven species are mentioned in the Torah and eaten at the Tu B’Shevat seder, which is based on kabbalistic tradition. They are wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.

• The official seal of Israel features olive branches flanking a seven-armed menorah. The design was chosen in a 1948 competition by graphic designers who also designed stamps and currency notes. In 2021, the olive tree was elected the national tree.

• In 2013, the anemone coronaria, or the red poppy anemone, was elected the national flower. Known as calanit in Hebrew, the red flower blankets fields in southern Israel, including near the border with Gaza, and has become a memorial symbol of the October 7 Hamas attacks.

• In the Negev and Sinai deserts, the most common tree is the acacia.

• Almond trees are among the first trees to bloom each year in Israel, and their nuts are traditionally eaten at a Tu B’Shevat seder. 

• The Jaffa orange was the best-known export crop in the early days of the State of Israel, reaching its peak in the 1970s. But it is the sabra, or prickly pear, that is the national fruit—and of course the beloved moniker of native-born Israelis.

• Rosemary, a fragrant, drought-tolerant herb native to the region, is planted at the gravesite of Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold on the Mount of Olives. If you visit, you can take a sprig home with you.