Punica granalum, 



THE POMEGRANATE-TREE. 



St/nonymes. 



Punica granatum, 



Grenadier, Balaustier, Miouganier, 



Grenadier, Granatbaum, 



Melograno, Granato, 



Gran ado, 



Romeira, 



Pomegranate-tree, Carthaginian Apple- ) -n 



tree, j 



Pomegranate-tree, United States 



LiNNJEUs, Species Plantarum. 



De Candolle, Prodromus. 



Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 



France. 



Germany. 



Italy. 



Spain and Sfanish America. 



Portugal. 



Derivations. The specific name granatum, is derived from the lialin granum, a grain, on account of the numerous grains ot 

 seeds in its fruit. Most of the European names are derived from the botanical one. 



ngravings. Sims, Botanical Magazine, pi. 1832; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii. fig. 664; Encyclopedia of Planta, 

 fig. 7019 ; and the figures belov^. 



Specific Characters. Stem arboreous. Leaf lanceolate. De Candolle, Frodromus, 



Description. 



"Let us get up early to the vineyards; 

 Let us see if the vine flourish, 

 Whether the tender grape appear, 

 And the pomegranates bud forth." 



Song op Solomon, vii. 12, 



tHE Pimica granatum is a tree, in 

 * magnitude and ligneous character, 



bearing considerable resemblance to 



the common hawthorn. In a wild 

 state, it forms a thorny bush ; but when cultivated in 

 gardens and in plantations, under favourable circum- 

 stances, it often attains a height of fifteen or twenty feet. 

 The leaves, which are of a beautiful green, stand oppo- 

 site, and are about three inches long, and from half an inch 

 to an inch broad in the middle. The flowers, which 

 are somewhat in the shape of a bell, and of a bright- 

 scarlet colour, come out at the ends of the branches, 

 sometimes occurring in clusters of three or four, and the times of their blooming 

 are so irregular, that the succession is often continued for months. Their petals 

 are handsome, very thick and fleshy, and their odour is as fragrant as their col- 

 our is bright. The fruit, which is very beautiful to the eye and pleasant to the 

 taste, is nearly round, encircled at the end opposite the stem, with something 

 resembling a crown, and is covered with a thick, hard rind, that is easily broken. 

 When fully grown, it is about as big as a large-sized orange, sometimes weighing 

 a pound, and when perfectly ripe, varies in the colour of its rind, from bright- 

 yellow or green, to a dark-red, and is often blended with all of these tints. 

 Varieties. The varieties recognized under this species are as follows : 

 1. P. G. RUBRUM, Loudon. Red-flowered Pomegranate-tree ; Grenadier des hois, 

 of the French, known by the reddish tinge of the pulp of the fruit, and as grow- 

 ing wild in Mauritania, and in the south of Europe. 



