Pomegranate - Punica granatum L.



The Pomegranate tree (Punica granatum L) is a fruit tree native to the near East (from Iran to North India). It is a small tree that often grows more like a large bush than a tree. It is valued not only as a fruit tree but also for its beautiful flowers that can range in color from red to white or a blend of the two.

The fruit of the Pomegranate is round and about the size of a softball. It is green and red when mature and if left on the tree too long it will split open (if you look closely at the last image above you will see that it is split open along one side).

Beneath about a 1/4 inch this outer husk the Pomegranate is filled with seeds (about a hundred) that are all encased in a pinkish colored, semi translucent material. These seeds are edible and for those who don´t mind ingesting the sesame seed size seeds in the middle they can b eaten right out of the fruit with a spoon or knocked loose and eaten. I prefer however to suck the outer pinkish "meat" off the seeds and then spit the seeds out. It is a bit more work but to each his own.

The Pomegranate is an ancient fruit that is mentioned in the Bible quite a few time.

3 comments:

  1. Wow--I like pomegranates ...I never even thought about what the blossoms/ tree might look like. A lot of the fruit stands in NYC sell the pomegranate seeds 'ready to eat' in little containers.

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  2. p.s. could you stop by and look at I couple of trees I have posted?

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  3. Thanks for id on the redbud --very unusual tree.

    But the tree with the white long flowers --the flowers resembled a pear tree blossom but were long like a lilac but skinnier and the scent was bitter and sharp as well as a little sweet--nothing like a lilac, no creaminess to the flowers petals --the blossom was mre fragile--whispier. These trees are sturdier too-- no shruby--they are all over NYC but no one can tell me what they are. The tree itself looks like a pear tree in shape.

    chedwick

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