Punica

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Lythraceae >

Punica >

Read about Punica in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Punica (Punicus, Carthaginian: hence Malum punicum, "apple of Carthage," an early name of the pomegranate). Punicaceae. A small branched tree, the branches rather terete and spiny. The common pomegranate of cultivation. Leaves opposite, subopposite and fascicled in short branches: fls. in simple axillary racemes, small, white; calyx persistent, 5-7-lobed; petals 5-7, lanceolate, corrugate; ovary inferior: berry spherical, thick-skinned, many-celled.—Two species, Orient to N. W. India. For cult., see Pomegranate. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Punica is a small genus of fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small trees. Its better-known species is the Pomegranate (Punica granatum). The only other species in the genus, the Socotra Pomegranate (Punica protopunica), is endemic on the island of Socotra. It differs in having pink (not red) flowers and smaller, less sweet fruit.

Species

Although previously placed in its own family of Punicaceae, recent phylogenetic studies have shown that Punica belongs in the family Lythraceae, and it is classified in that family by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Punica. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Punica QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)