Punica granatum

The common pomegranate is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree in the Lythraceae family, originating in the region extending from Iran to India. Today, it is widely cultivated throughout the Middle East and the Caucasus region, in north and tropical Africa, on the Indian subcontinent, in Central Asia and the drier parts of Southeast Asia, and in parts of the Mediterranean Basin. It can grow to 10 m tall. .

• The pomegranate has multiple spiny branches and is extremely long-lived, with some specimens in France surviving for 200 years.
• Leaves are opposite or sub-opposite, glossy, narrow oblong, entire, 3–7 cm long and 2 cm broad.
• Flowers are bright red and 3 cm in diameter, with three to seven petals. Some fruitless varieties are grown for the flowers alone.
• The edible fruit is a berry with seeds and pulp produced from the ovary of a single flower; the fruit is intermediate in size between a lemon and a grapefruit, 5–12 cm in diameter with a rounded shape and thick, reddish husk. It is red-purple in color and the husk has two parts: an outer, hard pericarp, and an inner, spongy mesocarp (white "albedo"), which comprises the fruit inner wall where seeds attach.