Glory,—Come-O, Come-O—.
—Mary Hefferan.
THE POMEGRANATE.
(Punica granatum.)
The Pomegranate is tree-like, growing to a height of about fifteen feet and in favorable soil even as high as twenty feet. It is probably native in Persia, though it is found in a wild state in all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. It is also found in China and Japan and has been brought by man to all of the civilized parts of the globe, where the climate is of a sufficiently high degree of warmth to permit the ripening of its fruit.
This little tree is frequently cultivated not alone for the beauty of its form, but for the beauty of its flowers, which, under cultivation, become doubled and show an increased and striking splendor in the richness of their color.
The etymology of its name is very interesting. The word Pomegranate is from two Latin words, pomum, meaning apple, and granatum, meaning grained or seeded. The former has reference to the shape of the fruit and the latter word to the numerous seeds contained in the pulp. The technical name of the Pomegranate plant is Punica granatum. The generic name Punica is evidently from the Latin word punicus, meaning red, and refers to the red color of the pulp or possibly also to the scarlet flowers. The name Punicus was also used by the Romans with reference to the Carthaginians, and signified untrustworthy or treacherous, this people having such a reputation with them; thus the name may have been applied to this fruit which, though it delights the eye, is disappointing to the taste.
Pliny tells us that the Pomegranate was extensively cultivated by the Carthaginians at their home in Northern Africa. This may have been the reason why the name Punica was selected for the genus by Linnaeus. The Romans also called it “Pomum Punicum,” or Carthage apple.
That the knowledge of this tree is of great antiquity is shown in many ways. It is frequently referred to in ancient Sanskrit writings of a time earlier than that of the Christian Era. In this language it was called “Dadimba.” Homer, in the Odyssey, speaks of its cultivation in the gardens of the kings of Phrygia and Phaecia. There are frequent references to it in the Old Testament. In the directions for making Aaron’s robe we find the following passage: “Upon the skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet,” and again, “They made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates.” Hiram, in the building of Solomon’s house, used the design of the Pomegranate. In the seventh chapter of the First Book of Kings we find “the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other chapiter,” and in another verse we are told that they were of brass.
Moses spoke of the promised land as a land of “wheat, barley and vines, fig-trees and pomegranates.” Solomon indicates that this fruit was cultivated in his time as he speaks of an “orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits.”
The Pomegranate is frequently represented in the ancient sculptures of the Assyrians and of the Egyptians.