''Punica protopunica'', commonly known as the pomegranate tree or Socotran pomegranate, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family Lythraceae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the island of

Socotra Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’ ...

(

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

). Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical dry

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. The tree, often thorny, attains a height of 2.5 to 4.5 meters. It has reddish-brown bark when young, fading to grey as it ages and becomes less fruitful. Leaves are dark green, glossy and opposite, growing up to 3 cm long. Fruit globose, 2–3 cm in diameter. Flowers and fruits from December and January through to the summer. ''P. protopunica'' is considered to be the precursor to the

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

(''P. granatum'') and is the only other species in the genus ''

Punica ''Punica'' is a small genus of fruit-bearing deciduous shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Lythraceae. The better known species is the pomegranate (''Punica granatum''). The other species, the Socotra pomegranate (''Punica ...

''. It differs from the pomegranate in having pink (not red), trumpet-shaped flowers and smaller, less sweet fruit. The fruit when ripe are yellow-green or brownish red in color.

As food for humans

The fruit is not an important food on Socotra. The pithy tissue lying under the skin and around the seeds of larger ripe fruits is the only part eaten. The seeds are said to be bitter, caustic and to cause sores on the tongue. The skin of the unripe fruit is extremely sour.

As food for livestock

In the well vegetated areas of the island the foliage is little grazed, except in a prolonged dry season, when the fallen dead leaves are eaten. In drier areas, goats eat the leaves and especially the new shoots of smaller and more prostrate shrubs, while sheep eat dry plant litter. It is not palatable to cattle. Goats are fond of the immature fruit. and small stock also like the flowers, fresh or dried.

Medicinal use

The skins of the fruit are crushed, cooked and the paste applied to treat sores and wounds. Alternatively they are dried and crushed to a powder which is applied topically to treat skin sores in the same way. Occasionally people eat the seeds as a purge to relieve stomach ache. More recently people have started using the skins to treat stomach complaints and expel worms, a treatment apparently learned from the mainland.

Other uses

The skin of a pink-colored, unripe fruit, rather than a fully ripe red one, is crushed in water and added to a small amount of fresh milk to sour it. The soured milk is then used to curdle fresh milk before churning it to make butter.

Wood

The wood is hard and close-grained and used to make small implements. The straight branches of larger specimens are used to make herding staffs. Makes good timber and is termite resistant, but it is usually of too small diameter to be useful for anything other than roofing infill. Branches are used to make protective or concealing covers for waterholes and rock cisterns. and the wood is considered to be as durable and strong as the wood of Buxanthus pedicellatus for this purpose. Dead wood makes good firewood making little smoke and giving out good heat. Dead wood also makes good charcoal.

Distribution

In addition to its natural distribution in Socotra, it has also been planted in Hawaii.

References

* The Ethnoflora of the Soqotra Archipelago by Anthony G Miller and Mirranda Morris, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2004, {{Taxonbar, from=Q600223 Lythraceae Endemic flora of Socotra Vulnerable plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Isaac Bayley Balfour