The pomegranate enters into the myths and religious ceremonies of the ancient Romans.[1194] Cato speaks of its properties as a vermifuge. According to Pliny,[1195] the best pomegranates came from Carthage, hence the name _Malum punicum_; but it should not be supposed, as it has been assumed, that the species came originally from Northern Africa. Very probably the Phœnicians had introduced it at Carthage long before the Romans had anything to do with this town, and it was doubtless cultivated as in Egypt. If the pomegranate had formerly been wild in Northern Africa and the south of Europe, the Latins would have had more original names for it than _granatum_ (from _granum?_) and _Malum punicum_. We should have perhaps found local names derived from ancient Western tongues; whereas the Semitic name _rimmon_ has prevailed in Greek and in Arabic, and even occurs, through Arab influence, among the Berbers.[1196] It must be admitted that the African origin is one of the errors caused by the erroneous popular nomenclature of the Romans. Leaves and flowers of a pomegranate, described by Saporta[1197] as a variety of the modern _Punica granatum_, have been discovered in the pliocene strata of the environs of Meximieux. The species, therefore, existed under this form, before our epoch, along with several species, some extinct, others still existing in the south of Europe, and others in the Canaries, but the continuity of existence down to our own day is not thereby proved. To conclude, botanical, historical, and philological data agree in showing that the modern species is a native of Persia and some adjacent countries. Its cultivation began in prehistoric time, and its early extension, first towards the west and afterwards into China, has caused its naturalization in cases which may give rise to errors as to its true origin, for they are frequent, ancient, and enduring. I arrived at these conclusions in 1869,[1198] which has not prevented the repetition of the erroneous African origin in several works. +Rose Apple+—_Eugenia Jambos_, Linnæus; _Jambosa vulgaris_, de Candolle. This small tree belongs to the family of Myrtaceæ. It is cultivated in tropical regions of the old and new worlds, as much perhaps for the beauty of its foliage as for its fruit, of which the rose-scented pulp is too scanty. There is an excellent illustration and a good description of it in the _Botanical Magazine_, pl. 3356. The seed is poisonous.[1199]