THE POMEGRANATE. 241 



pomep:ranate may still be called " full of melting 

 sweetness *." The hark is very astringent, and was 

 anciently eni])loyed in dyeing leather : the yellow 

 Morocco of Tunis is still tinted with an extract from 

 it. The flowers were also used to dye cloth of a light 

 red. The tree is easily propagated by cuttings t- 



Tlie pomegranate tree attains the height of about 

 twenty feet. The branches are thick, and in some of 

 the varieties they are armed with spines. The leaves, 

 which are of a beautiful green, stand opposite, and 

 are about three inches long, and half an inch broad 

 at the middle. The flowers come out at the end of 

 the branches ; they are sometimes in clusters of 

 three or four, and the times of their blowing are so 

 irregular, that the succession is often continued for 

 months. The petals are handsome, very thick, and 

 fleshy. The beauty of the tree, independently of its 

 fruit, has caused it to be planted for ornament in the 

 South of Europe, and in the East. " The nightin- 

 gale," says Russel, in his account of Aleppo, " sings 

 from the pomegranate groves in the day-time." 



In England, the fruit very seldom arrives at ma- 

 turity ; but the tree is highly prized as an ornament, 

 the flowers being of a bright scarlet colour, and 

 (especially the double ones) very handsome. Their 

 odour, too, is as fragrant as their colour is bright. 

 The longevity of the pomegranate tree is remarkable. 

 At Paris and at Versailles there are specimens which 

 are distinctly ascertained to have existed more than 

 two centuries. The pomegranate, even at Paris, will 

 not bear exposure in the open air too early in the 

 spring ; but it is not quite so delicate as the orange, 

 and is therefore generally removed from the houses 

 eight or ten days earlier. 



It is stated that the pomegranate was first culti- 

 vated in England in the time of Henry VIII. Ge- 

 * Moore. t See p. 320. 



Y 3 



