Wild cherry bough and hanging nest,
And calls amid the apple bloom,
No need to tell whose flaming breast
And fluting note lead all the rest,—
Glory—Glory—Glory—Glory—
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.
The Pomegranate belongs to the family of plants called Lythraceae. This
family has about three hundred and fifty species which are widely
distributed, but are most abundant in tropical regions, especially in
America. In describing the tree Dr. Oliver R. Willis gives the following
characteristics: “Branches straight, strong, sub-angular, armed near the
ends with spines; young shoots and buds red. Leaves opposite or
fascicled, short-stalked, and without stipules. Flowers large, solitary,
or two or three together in the axils of the leaves, near the ends of
the branchlets. A beautiful object for planted grounds.”
[Illustration: ]
The color of the flowers, which develop on the ends of the younger
branches, is a deep and rich scarlet or crimson. Many variations have
been produced by growing the plants from seeds and one of these bears
white flowers. The petals are rounded and usually crumpled.
The fruit, which is a berry about the size of an ordinary orange, is
when fresh usually of a reddish yellow color, becoming brownish in
drying. The rind is thick and leathery, and encloses a quantity of pulp
which is filled with a refreshing juice that is acid. It is of a pinkish
or reddish color, and encloses the numerous angular seeds. Probably the
chief value of the plant lies in the use of the fruit as a relish,
though the rind of the fruit and the bark of the root are used in
medicine.
The bark contains a large amount of tannin and from it there is also
obtained a bright yellow dye, which is used to produce the yellow Levant
Morocco.
In regions without frost the tree is often grown for ornamental
purposes.