382 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



skin loses its striking lustre, and the fruit shrinks some, but 

 this in no way impairs the quality or flavor of the pulp." 



The pomegranate has several enemies, both insect and fun- 

 gous. In India, the larvae of the anar butterfly (Virachola 

 isocrates Fabr.) infest the fruit. A similar insect is the pome- 

 granate butterfly of Egypt (Virachola lima Klug). Another 

 lepidopterous pest, Cryptoblades gnidiella Miller, is also reported 

 from Egypt. In California much damage has been caused by 

 a disease known as heart-rot. "When an infected fruit is 

 opened, the central cavity is found filled with a disgusting 

 mass of decayed arils, black in color and disagreeable in odor. 

 The decay usually shows no connection with the rind, being 

 entirely surrounded by sound flesh. . . . Infection takes place 

 in the blossom and progress of the fungus may be traced by a 

 thread-like black line of decay from the stigma down through 

 the stylar canal into the interior of the fruit." No remedy has 

 been found for this disease up to the present time. 



Several insects occasionally attack the tree in California, 

 but none is said to be a serious pest. In Hawaii, the dreaded 

 Mediterranean fruit-fly (Ceratitis capitata Wied.) is known to 

 infest the fruit. 



The varieties of the pomegranate are fairly numerous. Ibn- 

 al-Awam, a Moor who wrote in the thirteenth century, described 

 about ten kinds known in southern Spain at that time. At 

 Baghdad, pomegranates are usually divided into three groups 

 or classes, viz. : ahmar (red), aswad (black), and halwa (sweet). 

 Several named varieties are known in Mesopotamia in a limited 

 way, Salimi being considered the best. Ragawi, Halu, Aswad, 

 and Amlasi are other forms. 



The late Frank N. Meyer, describing the pomegranates of the 

 Shantung Province of China, says : "There are dwarf varieties 

 that grow only a few feet tall and bear but a few small scarlet 

 fruits, while others grow from 15 to 30 feet tall and bear fruits 

 one or more pounds in weight. There are varieties that have a 



