Steeped in history and romance and almost in a class by itself, the pomegranate, Punicagranatum L, belongs to the family Punicaceae, which includes only one genus and two species,the other one, little known, being P.propunica Balf, peculiar to the island of Socotra.B.
 
An attractive shrub or small tree, to 6 or 10 metres high, the pomegranate is much-branched,more or less spiny and extremely long-lived, some specimens at Versailles known to havesurvived two centuries. It has a strong tendency to sucker from the base. The leaves areevergreen, opposite or in whorls of 5 or 6, short-stemmed, between 1-10cm long, leathery.Showy flowers grow on the branch tips in clusters of up to five. They are 3cm wide andcharacterized by the thick, tubular, red calyx, having 5 to 8 fleshy, pointed sepals. Nearly round,but crowned at the base by the prominent calyx, the fruit, 6-12 cm wide, has a tough leatheryskin or rind, basically yellow, more or less overlaid with light or deep pink or rich red.