- Plants
- ›Vascular Plants
- ›flowering plants
- ›Dicots
- ›myrtles, evening primroses, and allies
- ›lythrum family
- ›Punica
Socotran pomegranate
Punica protopunica
Punica protopunica, commonly known as the pomegranate tree or Socotran pomegranate, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lythraceae. It is endemic to the island of Socotra (Yemen). Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.
The tree, often thorny, attains a height of 2.5 to 4.5 m (8 ft 2 in to 14 ft 9 in). It has reddish-brown bark when young, fading to grey as it ages and becomes less fruitful. Leaves are dark green, glossy, and opposite, growing up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long. The fruit are globose and 2–3 cm in diameter. Flowers and fruits occur from December and January through to the summer.
From the article Punica protopunica on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
In addition to its natural distribution in Socotra, it has also been planted in Hawaii at the Koko Crater Botanical Garden.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
At the table
The fruit are not an important food on Socotra. The pithy tissue lying under the skin and around the seeds of larger, ripe fruits is the only part eaten. The seeds are said to be bitter and caustic, and to cause sores on the tongue. The skin of the unripe fruit is extremely sour.
Wikipedia: “As food for humans”
In medicine
The skins of the fruit are crushed and cooked, and the paste is applied to treat sores and wounds. Alternatively, they are dried and crushed to a powder, which is applied topically to treat skin sores in the same way. Occasionally, people eat the seeds as a purge to relieve stomachache. More recently, people have started using the skins to treat stomach complaints and expel worms, a treatment apparently learned from the mainland.
Wikipedia: “Medicinal use”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Punica protopunica in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 425908.