402 



THE lUZARRi: ORANGE. 



THE BIZARRE ORANGE— A VEGETABLE PARADOX. 



UY J. W. KNEVKLS, FISIIKII.I- I.ANUINti, N. Y. 



Dear Sir — I have translated and condensed 

 from that beautiful and somewhat scarce 

 quarto volume, the " Histoire dcs Orangcrs" 

 by R18S0 and Poiteau, an account of one of 

 the rarest and most remarkable of the many 

 varieties of the genus Citrus, described and 

 illustrated in that work. It is a variety so 

 anomalous and so little known in collections 

 in this country, that perhaps the account 

 may interest some of your numerous read- 

 ers. Yours, J. W. K. 



Fishkill Landing, Jan. 8, 1847. 



Fig. !i5. TIte Bizarre Orange. 



The Bizarre Orange. 



Bigaradier Bizarrerie. Risso ET PoiTKAr. 



Citrus Bigaradia Bizaria. 



Melangolo Bizaria, ^c, ^c, ^e. 



This is perhaps the most singular and 

 curious tree in the whole vegetable king- 

 dom. Its origin was for a long time held 

 in a state of mysterious uncertainty by the 

 pretensions of quacks who wished to pass it 



off as the result of their ownjwonderriil art ; 

 but finally Peter Nalo, a Florentine physi- 

 cian, succeeded in tracing this Proteus of 

 trees to its true source. According to him, 

 it sprung originally from seed in the nursery 

 of a gardener at Florence, and having 

 missed in the inoculation it was accidentally 

 overlooked and not regrafted ; having shot 

 out branches from the wild stock, he was 

 surprised to see it bearing such extraordina- 

 r)'- fruit and was willing to have it believed 

 that it was produced by his own ingenuity. 

 The Orange termed bizarre, or 

 fantastical, presents in one and 

 the same individual, sections en- 

 tirely homogeneous and pure, of 

 three or four entirely distinct spe- 

 cies. In this tree, are often seen 

 branches covered with the leaves, 

 the flowers, and the fruit of the 

 Citron, suddenly changing, produ- 

 cing those of the bitter Orange. 

 Frequently a fruit is found Citron 

 on one side, and sweet Orange or 

 Bigarade on the other ; some are 

 even found divided into four sec- 

 tions, Citron and Orange, alter- 

 nately. 



In the History of the Royal 

 Academy of Sciences, of Paris, 

 (Anno 1712, page 5,) we are told 

 that M. Chevalier reports having seen in 

 the garden of St. Martin de Pontoise, 

 fruits composed of the Orange, Citron and 

 Lime. 



Volcamer, in his " Hesperides de Nurem- 

 berg," has given four plates, representing 

 as many different variations of the Bizarre 

 Orange. Imbued with the prejudices of 



