TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

PUNICACEAE

POMEGRANATE FAMILY

Elizabeth McClintock

Shrub, small tree, glabrous, sometimes thorny
Leaves simple, opposite, entire, deciduous
Inflorescence: axillary clusters; flowers 1–5
Flower bisexual, radial; hypanthium bell-shaped to cylindric, ± leathery; sepals 5–8, persistent, appearing as hypanthium lobes; petals 5–8, crumpled in bud (and often in flower); stamens many, inserted along hypanthium tube; ovary inferior, chambers generally 3–8, irregular, style 1, stigma 1, head-like
Fruit: berry, ± spheric, leathery-rinded, divided into irregular sections
Seeds many, embedded in juicy pulp
Genera in family: 1 genus, ± 1 sp.: Medit, ne Africa, to Himalayas. Seeds edible.