PUNICA granatum

Interesting shrub or arboreal plant, with suckers, deciduous, with a characteristic expanded and upright habit. Native to south-western Asia, it can reach a maximum height of between 3 and 6 meters over time. Branched from the base and endowed with the ability to emit suckers from the roots, it has trunks covered with a grey bark extended even to the thinnest stems which, in turn, can be more or less thorny. The leaves, oblong in shape, are dark green, shiny on the upper and opposite lamina. Between May and July, the plant produces tubular flowers with a corolla formed by red petals and with a red calyx, leathery and traceable in the fruit. This ripens in autumn when the leaves of the plant turn yellow and fall and it has the pulp divided into various sectors containing the seeds.

Rustic plant of easy cultivation, now naturalized in the Mediterranean environment, it needs a sunny exposure and any soil, even if it prefers rich, dry and well-drained ones. Once established, it tolerates drought even if periodic watering in the summer can improve the appearance of the crown, flowering and above all the subsequent fruiting. It tolerates saltiness so it can be used for coastal gardens; it also bears frost and low temperatures. After the vegetative restart it is necessary to prune the branches that produced flowers and fruits the previous year, eliminate the dry and damaged stems and eradicate the excess basal suckers. It can also be grown in pots or in large containers; in the ground it is ideal as a single specimen, in a group or to create hedges.