Punica granatum

This being the Latin name for the pomegranate, this being prompted by BH finishing off the second of the two pomegranates bought on the occasion noticed at reference 1 for breakfast this morning.

We started by browsing for pomegranates in a cook book produced to celebrate the demise of the fruit and vegetable market which until 1974 lived in Covent Garden. Absent from the index, absent from the pages on fruit, but present in the table of seasons for fruit and vegetables at the back. We thought an error. The book had been produced from a card index of fruit and vegetables, with the card for pomegranate being present at the time the table was produced but which had gone missing by the time the author came to write the text. 

On the other hand, the text did include the grenadilla, a diminutive form of grenade (see below), sometimes used for the passion fruit. Which according to an organ called the Atlanta Black Star (see reference 2) 'grows widely in the Caribbean, has a soft, juicy interior full of seeds and is commonly found in juice drinks to boost their flavors'. The source of the snap above, from which the interior resemblance to that of the pomegranate is clear enough. 

We moved onto the French name for the pomegranate, the grenade, a name which found its way into their Grenadiers, and somewhat later into our Grenadier Guards.

From there to the Latin name, the punica grenatum, literally a heavily seeded fruit from Carthage, an important city in Roman Africa despite the claim made at the end of the Third Punic War about 'Carthago delenda est'. However, it seems that there has been another memory error here: I thought the phrase was what a Roman general said after he had razed the place to the ground, but according to Wikipedia it means 'Carthage must be destroyed' rather than 'Carthage has been destroyed', a demand made by a Roman politician from the safety of the Senate House in Rome. It seems that the final capture of Carthage was a touch and go business and involved huge loss of life - another example of the adage that hard fought battles are apt to end in the massacre of the losers. With, in this case, the remnant of 50,000 souls being sold into slavery. Which makes Carthage a very large city indeed by the standards of the time. Around 150 years before the birth of our saviour. With the Carthaginian saints Perpetua & Felicitas coming around 200 years after the birth of said saviour. For whom see reference 3.

I have failed to turn up any connection with the Spanish city of Grenada, where I have no doubt that pomegranates have been grown for a very long time, perhaps having been brought there by the Arabs on their way up north from Carthage.

Reference 1: http://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/09/london-town.html.

Reference 2: https://atlantablackstar.com/about-us/. 'Consequently, Atlanta Black Star was created to publish empowering narratives for all people of African descent and everyone who adheres to our culture'.

Reference 3: http://psmv2.blogspot.com/2014/01/perpetually-perpetua.html.