THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 141 



names from the shrub. The fruit and flowers entered largely into the 

 religious rites of the Phoenicians. There is the myth that the goddess 

 Aphrodite herself ])lanted it in the Isle of Cyprus, wliieh implies that it 

 was not indigenous there. It has always been grown in China as a 

 cultivated plant, having been introduced about 150 B. C. The fruit is 

 often mentioned by Roman authors; Pliny considered it a most valuable 

 fruit and declared that the best fruits came from Carthage. The pome- 

 granate wa.s probably carried westward by the Komans to France and 

 Spain and also by the Arabs to Northern Africa and thence across into 

 Southern Europe. Granada in Spain owes its name to the far-spread 

 fame of its pomegranates, the fruit reaching a high degree of perfection 

 in its gentle climate. The first mention of the pomegranate in England 

 is during the reign of Henry VIII. At that time the fruit w^as intro- 

 duced and was highly prized as an ornamental, but did not mature in 

 the open. It is now a common greenhouse plant there. In 1829 it is 

 mentioned as having grown and fruited in Versailles, France, for more 

 than two centuries. 



At the present time the pomegranate is a common fruit in the Medi- 

 terranean countries and its culture has reached a high state of per- 

 fection in favored localities. The fruit is grown to some commercial 

 extent in Spain, Southern France, Italy, Greece, the Balkan States, 

 Southern Russia, Palestine, Persia, India, China, the Malayan States, 

 Northern Africa, IMexico, and Southern United States, mainly Arizona 

 and California. The fruit was brought by the Spanish to ]\Iexico very 

 early and was introduced into California by the mission fathers at the 

 founding of their oldest mission, Mission San Diego, in 1769. It is 

 grown to a small extent through the East and North as a hothouse 

 plant in tubs. The plant blossoms but rai'ely fruits as far north as 

 Raleigh, North Carolina. 



From the old missions the pomegranate has spread widely through 

 California under the common name of mission pomegranate. Varieties 

 have been imported, mainly from Mediterranean countries, but 

 also from China. Most of the plantings up to a recent date were 

 seedlings, so that the collection is large and varied and furnishes excel- 

 lent material for selection of good varieties, several of which have 

 appeared as seedlings. The plant flourishes from one end of California 

 to the other, doing especially well in the warm interior valleys. Here 

 the fruit reaches the highest perfection, attaining a large size, brilliant 

 color, and rich, sprightly flavor. It is an early and abundant bearer. 

 The largest plantings are in the San Joaquin, Imperial, and Coachella 

 valleys. 



BOTANY AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



The generic name Piinica is derived from the Latin name Malum 

 punicuni; tlie specific name granatum refers to the grain-like seeds or 

 kernels. 



The plant is a large shrub, bushy in growth, usuallj' deciduous, 

 though some of the tropical varieties, notably one from Porto Rico, 

 hold their leaves till spring. The leaves are mostly opposite, lanceolate, 

 long, or obovate, obtuse, entire, glabrous, red-veined, and bright glossy 

 green. The branches are slender, twiggy, nearly cylindrical, somewhat 

 thorny, the new growth being four-angled. The flowers are axillary, 



