698 
THE POMEGRANATE. 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
THE POMEGRANATE. 
Punica granatum, L. ; Granatacea of Botanists. 
Grenadier, of the French; Granatenbaum, German; Melugt mo, 
Italian; Granado, Spanish. 
This unique fruit, the most singularly beautiful one that ever 
appears at the dessert, is a native of China and the South ol 
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 Eapin, the French 
poet, respecting this fruit. Bacchus 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 on 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 every 
