The Orange. 171 



extremity a very characteristic feature. The petioles are 

 scarcely dilated. The flowers, produced in clusters of 

 three to ten, are pale purple. The fruit seems an 

 immense lemon, but without a nipple, often reaching 

 eight or nine inches in length, and weighing several 

 pounds ; the rind is rugged and wrinkled, highly aromatic, 

 and internally very thick and hard ; the pulp is scanty 

 and pale; the juice is neither very abundant nor very 

 acid. Though undoubtedly Indian by birthright, singular 

 to say, truly wild examples do not appear to have been 

 observed. 



THE ORANGE. 



THE orange-tree is usually distinguished with ease and 

 precision. The leaves are pointed, and their stalks are 

 so broadly winged, that in form they resemble little kites ; 

 the flowers are pure cream-colour, the most delicate of 

 all the many shades of white ; the fruit is globular, or 

 with only a tendency to the oval, never elongated, and 

 destitute of a nipple ; the rind is comparatively free from 

 cavities and wrinkles, and usually adheres so lightly to 

 the pulp, that it can readily be torn away. Like the 

 apple and the grape, this delectable plant shows a 

 wonderful tendency to sport, sometimes in the foliage, 

 more particularly in the figure and flavour of the fruit, the 

 rind included. Some of the varieties are very strongly 

 marked, and hence it has been customary to regard 



