Pomegranate is a plant native to Iran and northeastern Turkey, but it also thrives in the drier climates of California and Arizona. Furthermore, they have been cultivated throughout the Middle East, South Asia and the Mediterranean basin for several millennia.
Findings dating back to the Bronze Age (charred exocarp of the pomegranate fruit) have been identified near Jericho (in the West Bank), at Hala Sultan Tekke, in Cyprus and Tiryns.
A large shrunken pomegranate was found in the tomb of Djehuty, or the butler of Queen Hatshepsut, in Egypt. Cuneiform traces of Mesopotamia speak of pomegranates as early as the mid-third millennium BC
Pomegranate is also grown in southern China and south-east Asia, thanks to the "Silk Road" or brought by maritime traders. The Kandahar is famous throughout Afghanistan for its high quality pomegranates.
Although it is not native to Korea or Japan, here the pomegranate is widely cultivated and many different cultivars have been developed. Regarding the beautiful flowers and the unusually twisted bark (typical of older specimens), the pomegranate is also used for bonsai production.
The red pomegranate is also known as balaustine, from the Latin: balaustinus .
The Italian cultivation of pomegranate is widespread throughout the south of the peninsula and, in particular, in "Olevano sul Tusciano" as well as in the rest of the Campania region.
The ancient city of Granada, in Spain, was renamed after the discovery of this fruit during the "Moorish" period. The Spanish colonists introduced the fruit to the Caribbean and Latin America but, in the English colonies, it was decidedly less welcome.
