698 THE POMEGRANATE. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



THE POMEGRANATE. 



Punica granaturn, L. ; Graiuitacea of Botanists. 



Grenadier, of the French; Granatenbaum, German; Melagrcmo, 



Itahan; Granado, Spanish. 



This unique fruit, the most singularly beautiful one that ever 

 appears at the dessert, is a native of China and the South of 

 Europe. It grows and bears very readily in this country, as 

 far north as Maryland and the Ohio River, though the fruit 

 does not always mature well north of Carolina, except in shel- 

 tered places. It is even hardy enough to stand the winter here, 

 and will bear very good fruit, if trained as an espalier, and pro- 

 tected in winter. 



The fruit is as large as an apple. Its skin is hard and leathery, 

 of a yellowish-orange colour, with a rich red cheek. It is crown- 

 ed in a peculiar manner with the large calyx, which remains 

 and increases in size after the flower has fallen. There is a 

 pretty bit of mythological history told by Rapin, the French 

 poet, respecting this fruit. Dacchus once beguiled a lovely 

 Scythian girl, whose head had been previously turned by the 

 diviners "having prophesied that she would some day wear a 

 crown, and who therefore lent a willing ear to his suit. The 

 fickle god, however, not long after abandoned her, when she 

 soon died of grief. Touched at last, he metamorphosed her 

 into a pomegranate tree, and placed an the summit of its fruit 

 the crown (calyx), which he had denied to his mistress while 

 living. 



The fruit of the common pomegranate is acid, but the culti- 

 vated variety bears fruit of very agreeable, sweet flavour. The 

 interior of the fruit consists of seeds enveloped in pulp, much 

 like those of the gooseberry, but arranged in compartments, and 

 of the size and colour of red currants. Medicinally, it is cool- 

 ing and much esteemed, like the orange, in fevers and inflam- 

 matory disorders. 



The tree is of low growth, from twelve to twenty feet, with 

 numerous slender, twiggy branches, and is very ornamental in 

 garden scenery, either when clad with its fine scarlet flowers or 

 decked with fruit, which hangs and grows all summer, and does 

 not ripen till pretty late in the season. It is well worthy of a 

 choice sheltered place at the north, on a wall or espalier rail, 

 where it can be slightly protected with mats or straw in winter; 

 and it deserves to be much more popular than it now is in everv 



