GRANATEA3. 9 



I Punic a. Pomegranate. 



The generic character is the same as that of 

 the Order. 



The name, according to some Authors, is derived from 

 puniuea scarlet, the colour of the flowers. Others again 

 refer it to Punicus, and that it was so called from the cir- 

 cumstance that the tree was first cultivated extensively 

 in the neighbourhood of the ancient Carthage, and that 

 hence the fruit received the name of malum punicum or 

 Carthagenian apple. 



1 Punica Granatum. Common Pomegranate. 

 Leaves lanceolate, stem arborescent. 



Be Cand. Prod. III. 3. 



HAB. Cultivated. 



FL. Throughtout the year. 



The Pomegranate is originally a native of Syria. 

 It appears to have been introduced into this island 

 at a very early period after its settlement by the Spa- 

 niards. It is a shrub a'out 10 feet in height. The 

 flowers are very showy ; are either scarlet or more rarely 

 white, and single or double. The common or single red va- 

 riety is very generally cultivated, especially in Kingston, 

 and its vicinity, ana the fruit acquires great perfection, 

 being of an agreeabie flwour, and weighing sometimes, 

 according to Lunan, a pound and a half. The double red, 

 and the single and double white, have been introduced, but 

 the heat of the climate does not appear to agree with them, 

 and I have of late lost sight of them. The Pomegranate 

 ispiincipally cultivated 'or the sake of the Fruit, which 

 deserved : y claims a place at the dessert. The seeds are 

 surrounded by a transparent reddish pulp of a sweetish 

 but astringent taste, peculiary grateful in a tropical 

 climate. Several parts of the plant have also been used 

 in medicine. The root, and especially its bark, is a power- 

 ful remedy for Tape-worm, and was recommended as such 

 by Uioscorides, Pliny, and Celsus. It does not however 

 appear to have again attracted notice as an article of the 

 Materia Medica, until attention was called to it, by Dr. 

 Buchanan, in the 3d volume of the Edinburgh Medical 

 and Surgical Journal, as a powerful vermifuge in com- 



