THE POMEGRANATE FAMILY 



PUXICACE^ Horaninow 



'UXICACE-'E consist of hut i genus, with i or possibly 2 species of 

 small trees or shmbs with opposite branches, native of Persia and 

 adjacent countries. 



Plants of the Pomegranate Family have opposite or clustered 

 leather}' leaves. The perfect flowers are large and shov/y, on stout peduncles, 

 solitaiy, or in clusters of 2 to 5 in the axils of the leaves. The calyx is joined to 

 the ovar}-, 5- to 7-lobed, and leather}-. The corolla consists of 5 to 7 petals in- 

 serted in the throat of the calyx-tube; the stamens are numerous, in several series, 

 inserted with the petals; filaments stout, the anthers ovate, attached at the middle; 

 the pistil consists of several united carpels; ovar}' several-celled, inferior, the styles 

 united, the stigmas somewhat lobed; the ovules are numerous, superimposed, in 

 2 series. The fruit is a several-celled, hard-shelled, leather}' berr}', capped with 

 the enlarged calyx; its septa are membranous; the seeds are numerous, more or 

 less angular, in a water}' pulp, their coating leather}-; the embr}'o has spirally con- 

 volute auricled cotvledons. 



POMEGRANATE 



GENUS PUNICA [TOURNEFORT] LINN.EUS 

 Species Punica Granatum Linnaeus 



S]\IALL tree, cultivated in all warm temperate countries for its fine 

 fruit as well as for ornament. It is frequently naturahzed in regions 

 where it has long been cultivated, and is so found in peninsular 

 ^ Florida, where it occurs in sandy woods and waste places. It is a 

 much-branched small tree or shrub, reaching a height of 6 meters, and is also 

 known as the Punic apple or Garnet apple. 



The bark is ver}' thin, about 1 mm. thick, brownish gray, verv' shallowly re- 

 ticulated, yellowish within; the twigs are slender, angular, becoming round, gray 

 to brown. The leaves are entire, leather}-, eUiptic, oblong or oblanceolate, i to 6 

 cm. long, blunt or pointed, rarely notched, tapering at the short-stalked base, light 

 green and prominently veined. The flowers are solitary- or in clusters; the calyx- 

 tube is bell-shaped, its lobes thick, leather}', triangular or triangular-lanceolate, 

 sharp-pointed; the petals are obovate to nearly orbicular, short-clawed, 1.5 to 2.5 

 cm. long, bright scarlet. The fruit, ripening in September, is globular or nearly 



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