Flora of North America species comparison

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Punica granatum

pomegranate
Leaves

petiole 2–5 mm;

blade 25–65 × 10–20 mm, surfaces shiny.
Berries

reddish brown to yellow, globose, 5–12 cm diam.
Seeds

7–12 mm.
Floral

tube 25–40 × 15–25 mm;

sepals erect to recurved, thick, leathery;

petals 15–25 × 10–20 mm;

ovary proximal layer of 2 or 3 carpels with axile placentation, distal layer of ca. 5–7 carpels with parietal placentation.
2n

= 14, 16, 18, 19 (cultivated).

Punica granatum
Phenology Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Old homesites.
Elevation 400–1600 m. (1300–5200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; TX; s Europe; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America]
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Punica granatum has been widely planted as an ornamental in the western and southwestern United States and has naturalized around old homesites. It has been cultivated for centuries in warm regions of the world, probably having originated in the Middle East in the area of modern Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The seeds are eaten in salads and other dishes, especially in Mediterranean cuisines. Juice expressed from the fruit rind and seeds is currently a popular beverage in North America, drunk for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Dwarf (‘nana’) and double-flowered forms are also cultivated.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Lythraceae > Punica
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 472. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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