The pomegranate is a fruit with a very interesting background in history. According to a legend of the ancient Greeks, the pomegranate was the fruit which Persephone ate while in Hades. Because she swallowed six of the seeds, she was forced to spend six months of each year in the underworld! To the Greeks, the juicy, many-seeded pomegranate always symbolized the powers of darkness.

In China, the pomegranate was a symbol of fertility. King Solomon, according to the Bible, had an orchard of pomegranates. When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they longed for the pomegranates they used to have in Egypt. Mohammed advised his followers, “Eat the pomegranate, for it purges the system of envy and hatred.”

So you see the pomegranate was an important fruit in the East in ancient times. It is supposed to have originated in Persia, but from very ancient times, it has been grown in the warm countries of southern Asia, northern Africa, and southern Europe. Now it is common in South and Central America and in the southern United States.

The pomegranate grows as a bushy tree, or shrub. It grows from 1.5 to 6 meters high. Its leaves are glossy and at the ends of its thin twigs grow its coral-red, waxlike flowers.

The fruit is about the size of an orange. It is leathery-skinned and is colored a deep yellow, tinged with red. Inside this fruit are many small seeds. They are covered with a sweet, red, juicy pulp, which is often made into refreshing drinks. There is something about its taste that makes it especially agreeable to people who live in hot, dry regions.

There,are many varieties of the pomegranate. In fact, a Moor who wrote about it 700 years ago described 10 different kinds which were grown in Spain at that time! In the United States, three leading varieties have been cultivated. They are called the Wonderful, the Paper-Shell, and the Spanish Ruby.