Punica protopunica

The Socotra Pomegranate ( Punica protopunica ) is a plant that belongs today to the family of Lythraceae ( Lythraceae ). It is endemic to the archipelago belonging to Yemen Socotra in the northwestern Indian Ocean.

Features

The Socotra pomegranate grows as evergreen shrub that has achieved stature heights of 2 to 4.5 meters and often verdornte branches. The leaves have an elliptical or oblong, rarely wrong ovoid or circular, full leaves leaf blade, blunt, often ausgerandeter Spreitenspitze. They are meatier than Punica granatum.

The bracts are oblong and blunt. The petals are heart shaped and inverted - unlike Punica granatum pink instead of red. The fruits are smaller and less sweet. The carpels are different from Punica granatum in a plane. The thousand grain weight of the seed is 6.81 g

Systematics and history of research

Punica protopunica was first described in 1882 by Isaac Bayley Balfour, and together with the Pomegranate ( Punica granatum L.), the only two species of the genus counting pomegranate ( Punica ). It is sometimes referred to as the root form of pomegranate viewed during which descent from Punica protopunica is doubted in other works.

Endangering

At the time of his discovery of the Socotra pomegranate was considered common. Until 1997, this species was in the red list of the IUCN as endangered ( EN ). Since 1998 she is "at risk" only classified as (VU). The entire distribution area is estimated at about 100 km ².