Dilip Walse Patil

Scientific Name : Punica granatum L.

Category : Angiosperms

Status : Alive

Habit : A small shrub with young branches 4-angled. Leaves : Opposite, entire, lanceolate. The leaves fall off from the young branches which then are modified into thorns. Inflorescence : Solitary or cymose. Flowers : Red-crimson, calyx 5-7 fid, cup-shaped, valvate. Petals 5-7, alternate with calyx teeth, with wavy margins. Stamens many inside the cup-shaped calyx. Ovary inferior, carpels many, in 2 rows, one above the other, surrounded by the calyx, style small, stigma capitate. Fruit : A balausta, globose, brown crowned by the persistent calyx. Seeds many angular, surrounded by pulpy, juicy, white, pink or red aril. Flowering and Fruiting Time : All the year round. Significance : Cultivated mainly for its fruit (juicy aril of the seeds). The fruit rind is given in diarrhea and dysentery. A decoction of the flowers is gargled to relieve oral and throat inflammations.