AURANTlACEiE. 129 



22-25. Style subcl.ivate : stigma subciipitate. Fruit globose, 

 with the rind usually thick, and with a deeper shade of red mixed 

 with the yellow : pulp yellow more or less tinged with pink, 

 acrid and bitter to the taste. 



The principal marks of difference, exclusive of the characters 

 Avhich may be taken from the fruit, between this and the va- 

 riety bearing the sweet Orange, are, that in this the tree is lof- 

 tier, the petioles distinctly alate, the calyx more regularly 5-fid, 

 and the petals 5 in number. 



The sweet and the bitter Oranges are considered, by De Can- 

 dolle and some others, as distinct species. TJiis cannot in my 

 opinion be the case, as it is a well established fact, familiar to 

 every one who has been any length of time in this Island, that 

 the seed of the sweet Oi'ange very frequently grows up into a 

 tree bearing the bitter fruit, numerous well attested instances 

 of which have come to my own knowledge. I am not however 

 aware, that the seed of the bitter Orange has ever grown up 

 into the sweet-fruited variety. These two varieties of Orange 

 would therefore appear to bear the same relation to each other, 

 as subsists between the apple and the crab. The crab is con- 

 sidered to be the original stock of the apple, and its seed always 

 produces a small acerb fruit : whereas, although the seed of any 

 of the approved kinds of apple, such as the golden pippin, may 

 occasionally grow up into a tree producing an esteemed variety 

 of fruit, not inferior perhaps to that of the parent tree, yet iu 

 infinitely the greater number of instances it will be small and 

 acerb, and in other words a crab. We may therefore conclude, 

 that the bitter Orange was the original stock, and that, to cer- 

 tain accidental circumstances, such as the soil and climate being 

 peculiarly favourable, and to cultivation, we are to ascribe the 

 production of the sweet. 



The bitter Orange appears to have been first cultivated in 

 Europe during the middle ages. It was not for many years 

 after, that the sweet was introduced. Hence the Arabian' wri- 

 ters, who were the first to make any distinct mention of the 

 fruit, describe it as acrid, and all the old established Orange 

 groves of Spain, such as those of Seville, left by the Moors, 

 belong to this variety. It is recorded that the first sweet Orange 

 tree, was reared in the garden of the Count de St Laurent, at 

 Lisbon ; and that hence, it has come to be known by the name 

 of the Portugal Orange, It is probable that the seeds were 

 procured from China, as the Portuguese had, previous to this, 

 discovered the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope. 



The best Oranges at present brought to the European mar- 

 ket, are from the island of St Michael, one of the Azores. 



In no part of the world however are Oranges produced su- 

 perior to those of which some parts of our Island can boast. In 

 the parish of St John, in particular, the trees may be seen in 

 thousands in the pastures and in the Negro villages, forming 



VOL. I. K 



