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Pomegranate
Steeped in history and romance and almost in a class
by itself, the pomegranate, Punica granatum L., belongs to
the family Punicaceae which includes only one genus and two species,
the other one, little-known, being P. protopunica Balf.
peculiar to the island of Socotra.
Despite its ancient background, the pomegranate
has acquired only a relatively few commonly recognized vernacular
names apart from its many regional epithets in India, most of which
are variations on the Sanskrit dadima or dalim, and
the Persian dulim or dulima. By the French it is
called grenade; by the Spanish, granada (the fruit),
granado (the plant); by the Dutch, granaatappel, and
Germans, granatapfel; by the Italians, melogranato,
melograno granato, pomo granato, or pomo punico. In
Indonesia, it is gangsalan; in Thailand, tab tim; and
in Malaya, delima. Brazilians know it as roma, romeira
or romazeira. The Quecchi Indian name in Guatemala is
granad. The Samoan name is limoni. The generic term,
Punica, was the Roman name for Carthage from whence the best
pomegranates came to Italy.
Description
An attractive shrub or small tree, to 20 or 30
ft (6 or 10 m) high, the pomgranate is much-branched, more or less
spiny, and extremely long-lived, some specimens at Versailles known
to have survived two centuries. It has a strong tendency to sucker
from the base. The leaves are evergreen or deciduous, opposite or in
whorls of 5 or 6, short-stemmed, oblong-lanceolate, 3/8 to 4 in
(1-10 cm) long, leathery. Showy flowers are home on the branch tips
singly or as many as 5 in a cluster. They are 1 1/4 in (3 cm) wide
and characterized by the thick, tubular, red calyx having 5 to 8
fleshy, pointed sepals forming a vase from which emerge the 3 to 7
crinkled, red, white or variegated petals enclosing the numerous
stamens. Nearly round, but crowned at the base by the prominent
calyx, the fruit, 2 1/2 to 5 in (6.25-12.5 cm) wide, has a tough,
leathery skin or rind, basically yellow more or less overlaid with
light or deep pink or rich red. The interior is separated by
membranous walls and white spongy tissue (rag) into compartments
packed with transparent sacs filled with tart, flavorful, fleshy,
juicy, red, pink or whitish pulp (technically the aril). In each
sac, there is one white or red, angular, soft or hard seed. The
seeds represent about 52% of the weight of the whole fruit.
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