Punica-granatum_32

Description:

Punica granatum L.EN: Pomegranate, DE: Granatapfel, GranatapfelbaumSlo.: granatno jabolkoDat.: May 21. 2007Lat.: 44.83542 Long.: 13.83697Code: Bot_190/2007_DSC8062Habitat: Adriatic Sea shore, grassland in a park, semiruderal almost flat terrain; calcareous ground; sunny, open place; elevation 8 m (26 feet); average precipitations ~ 800-900 mm/year, average temperature 13-14 deg C, Sub-Mediterranean phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil.Place: Veruda tourist facilities, south of Pula, Istria, Croatia EC.Comment: Punica granatum is a tall, often spiny shrub, sometimes a small tree. Its large vividly scarlet-red flowers as well as large (up to 8 cm in diameter, in cultivated plants often larger) orange-red fruits are very showy. Also its leaves are of beautiful color, copper-reddish when young, intensive green during the summer and yellow before they fall off early in winter. Fruits are edible, with many seeds and of an important commercial value. Punica granatum is mostly cultivated but naturalized almost in the whole Mediterranean and elsewhere today. On many places it also grows wild. Its origin is not completely clear. Eventually its native regions lay in Central Asia. The tree is one of the oldest known plants cultivated by men, known already about 5.000 years ago. It is the most frequently mentioned plant of all in the Bible. Its uses are many; as a food, in horticulture, as medical plant, in the production of dyes and tannin, in heraldry, etc. A symbol of fertility!Ref.:(1) R. Brus, Drevesa in grmi Jadrana (Trees and bushes of Adria) (in Slovene), Modrijan Pub, (2012), p 318.(2) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 328. (3) M. Blamey, C. Grey-Wilson, Wild Flowers of the Mediterranean, A & C Black, London (2005), p 152.(4) I. Schnfelder, P. Schnfelder, Kosmos Atlas Mittelmeer- und Kanarenflora, Kosmos, (2002), p 132.