Dwarf Pomegranate
Punica granatum
Lythraceae
Growth habit
Shrub
Perennation
Cultivated as annual
Native distribution
E Mediterranean to Himalaya
Biocultural value
Pomegranate fruit was a symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.
Location
Source of plant
Richters
Description
Deciduous, branching shrub to 2m, angled, glabrous, occasionally with spiny branches. Leaves 2-8cm, obovate to oblong, pale green, glossy above, glabrous, entire, rigid, opposite, occasionally alternate. Flowers to 3cm diameter, orange-red, funnelform-rotate, sessile; petals crumpled. Fruits to 5cm diameter, globose, brown-yellow to purple-red, many seeded, with persistent calyx; flesh juicy, edible, crimson.
USDA Hardiness Zone
7
Special characteristics
food, tender perennial, other ethnobotanical uses