Moses and the Gas Plant

In the Book of Exodus in the Bible, Moses encounters a burning bush through which he hears the voice of God. The bush initially drew his attention because it was engulfed in flames without being consumed. Now that’s something you don’t see every day.

Moses, being too distracted by the Great I AM, did not take the time to do a thorough botanical evaluation of said bush, so we can’t be sure what species it may have been. There are some scientists who have suggested it could have been Dictamnus albus, the Gas Plant.

This curious herbaceous plant is widely spread across Europe, Norther Africa and much of Asia. It secretes volatile chemicals  that degrade in the sunlight and can ignite in a burst of flames. The chemicals responsible are chavicol, a pleasant smelling chemical also found in sweet basil, and isoprene.

Ignition of these chemicals is rapid, resulting in more of a flash than a sustained fire. To create the phenomenon of a burning bush, these chemicals would have to continuously accumulate to high levels in a cloud around the bush. It would have to be a windless day, so the cloud wouldn’t blow away, and there would likely have to be some source of ignition. So unless Moses was wandering around with a box of matches, Dictamnus albus isn’t a good rational explanation for what he experienced.

Also, it turns out that there are no records of this species growing around Sinai. So this exciting flash-bang of a scientific hypothesis actually fizzles out pretty quickly.

Brian Rutter, PhD, is the cofounder of Hundredfold Video and plant biologist working for 2Blades at the University of Minnesota. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our “Sower Stories – Odd Facts About Plants” and video production tips in your inbox every month!

Works Cited:

Fleisher, Alexander, and Zhenia Fleisher. "Study of Dictamnus gymnostylis volatiles and plausible explanation of the “burning bush” phenomenon." Journal of Essential Oil Research 16, no. 1 (2004): 1-3.