pomegranate Punicaceae Punica
|Leaf: Opposite, simple, tardily deciduous to nearly evergreen, 1 to 3 inches long, narrowly elliptical to lanceolate, somewhat leathery, waxy-shiny and dark green above, paler and less shiny below, entire margins.
Flower: Very attractive and carnation-like, ranging in color from scarlet or orange to white, variegated varieties exist, with up to 7 petals that have crinkled edges, the flowers at first encased in a persistent waxy calyx, to 2 inches long, flowering early to mid-summer.
Fruit: A pomegranate (technically a berry), round, 2 to 4 inches, outer leathery rind yellow to red, enclosing compartmentalized sacks filled with reddish sweet pulp, each sack containing a single seed, maturing late summer, the calyx persisting on the fruit.
Twig: Slender, stiff, gray-brown, often terminating in a thorny tip, often 4-angled, spur shoots present, consistently branching at 45 degree angles.
Bark: Initially smooth and gray-brown, with interlacing lines, becoming irregularly ridged and furrowed.
Form: A suckering, rounded shrub to 20 feet, weeping with age.
Looks like: Amur privet
- border privet
| Additional Range Information:
Punica granatum is planted in the USDA
hardiness zones shown above and may seed
into the landscape. See
states reporting pomegranate.
| External Links:
USDA Plants Database
|© Copyright 2016, Virginia Tech|
Dept. of Forest Resources
and Environmental Conservation,
all rights reserved.
Photos and text by: John Seiler,
Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera,
and John Peterson