Pomegranate

Location in BHU campus : Planted in some residential quarters .

Botanical name : : Punica granatum Linn.

Family : Punicaceae

Vernacular / local Name : Bengali-Dalim; Gujarati-Dadam; Hindi-Anar; Kannada& Marathi – Dalimba; Malayalam - Matalam; Sanskrit - Dadima; Tamil- Madulai; Telugu – Danimma.

English names : Pomegranate

A shrub or small tree, with spiny branches.The leaves are borne in clusters. Leaves 3-7 cm long, oblong or obovate, shining above. Flowers usually scarlet red, sometimes yellow, about 4-5 cm long and as much across, mostly solitary or 2-4 together. They have crumpled petals and fleshy calyx. Fruit is a globose berry crowned by persistent calyx and coriaceous woody rind; seeds numerous, the fleshy testa is red or pink or whitish.

Flowering :April-June

Fruiting: July-November

• Sacred value

The plant is considered sacred and the leaves or flowers are offered to Lord Ganapati, Lord Satyanarayan and Lord Samba on Shree Sankastha Chaturthi Vrata, Shree Satyanarayana Vrata and Nitya Somavara Vrata respectively.

The ‘Pomegranate’ is a symbol of fertility and prosperity. Prophet Mohammed is said to have advised his followers to eat the fruit to get rid of the envy. The Parsis use its twigs to make their sacred broom. When a Parsi child is invested with the sacred thread, the seeds of the fruit are thrown over him to scare away evil spirits. Its juice is squeezed into the mouth of the dying.

The ‘Pomegranate’ is mentioned a number of times in the Old Testament. It was considered sacred in Egypt.

• Uses

Seed juice is a favourite drink; fleshy testa is edible. Dried seeds constitute ánardana’. Fruit rind is used as a tanning material. Flowers yield a red dye. Bark, flower-buds and fruits are of medicinal value.