An 1885 illustration of pomegranate (Punica granatum) fruit and foliage. Native from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India, the pomegranate is now cultivated mainly in the drier parts of California and Arizona for its fruits exploited commercially as juice products, which have been gaining in popularity since 2001. In the global functional food industry, pomegranate is often mentioned among a novel category of exotic plant sources called "superfruits".Artist: Otto Wilhelm Thomé