Pomona

Pomona, the Roman divinity of the fruit (pomum) of trees. She was beloved by several of the rustic divinities, as Sylvanus, Picus, and Vertumnus. Propertius tells us that the last, after vainly trying to approach her under various forms, at last succeeded by assuming the figure of an old woman. In this guise he recounted to her the lamentable histories of women who had despised love, and, having touched her heart to pity, suddenly transformed himself into a blooming youth. Varro tells us that at Rome the worship of Pomona was under the care of a special priest, the flamen Pomonalis. In works of art she was generally represented with fruits in her lap, or in a basket, with a garland of fruits in her hair, and a pruning-knife in her right hand.