1121 



CITRUS. 



CITRUS. 



1123 



/. The Blood-Red Orange, with ovate-oblong pellucid leaves, and 

 middle-sized round rough reddish-yellow fruit, with a pulp irre- 

 gularly mottled with crimson. This, which is said to have come 

 from the Philippines, was once looked upon as a great curiosity, aud 

 living plants were purchased at a considerable price ; it was thought 

 to be produced by grafting an orange upon a pomegranate. Now 

 that it is known to be a variety of indifferent quality, and that its 

 fabulous history is forgotten, it has ceased to attract much notice. 

 A trifling variety of it is the Arancio di Sugo Rosso of the Italians, 

 who call the real blood-red variety Arancio di Malti Sanguigno. 

 Another variety, with small fruit, is the Arancio a Foglia Stretta of 

 Nice. 



g. The Ribbed Orange, with oblong-acute leaves, and a flattened 

 ribbed deep-orange fruit. This is one of the most tender of the 

 varieties ; its fruit is spongy, and of no value. 



A. The Sweet-Skinned Orange, with broad taper pointed leaves, 

 roundish rather ovate heavy fruit, and a deep yellow smooth thick 

 sweet soft rind. This is the Pomme d'Adam, or Forbidden Fruit, of 

 the shops of Paris. Its pulp is subaoid and pleasant, and as deep a 

 yellow as the rind, which is soft and melting like the flesh of a 

 ding-stone peach ; the actdity of the pulp is agreeably mixed with 

 sweetness, and renders the fruit extremely pleasant. This is very 

 different from the Forbidden Fruit of the London shops ; see 

 C. decumana further on. 



t. The Mandarin Orange, with flattened rough deep-orange fruit, 

 and a thin rind, which separates spontaneously from the pulp. This 

 sort has been raised in China, where its fruit is chiefly consumed in 

 presents to the great officers of state, whence its name. It is now 

 cultivated in Malta, where it arrives at perfection. Its singularity 

 consists in the rind so completely separating from the pulp when 

 quite ripe that the latter may be shaken about in the inside. 

 In quality this yields to no known kind. There are two sub- 

 varieties. 



I: The Saint Michael's Orange, with small round pale-yellow 

 seedless fruit, having a thin rind and an extremely sweet pulp. 

 This, when in a state of perfection, is perhaps the most delicious of 

 all the oranges, and it is by far the most productive. Great quan- 

 tities are imported from the Azores, where it appears to be 

 exclusively cultivated as an object of trade. It is said that 20,000 

 of these oranges have been packed from a single tree, exclusively 

 of the large quantity which were blown down or rejected as unfit 

 for sale. 



Besides these there are numerous other sorts to be found in the 

 gardens of the curious, and in commerce are many kinds about which 

 little is known. Among these may be mentioned the Kgg-Oranges of 

 Malta, which are sometime* sent to England as presents ; they are 

 not however equal in quality to the China or the Saint Michael's 

 varieties. 



2. C. Bigaradia, the Bigarade, or Bitter Orange (Bigaradier of 

 the French, Melangolo of the Italians). Branches spiny. Leaves 

 elliptical, acute, with a winged stalk. Flowers very white. Fruit 

 middle-sized, uneven, more or less globose, deep yellow, with an acid 

 and bitter pulp. It differs moreover from the sweet orange in forming 

 a smaller tree, having broader leaves, and larger and sweeter flowers, 

 on which account it is always selected in preference for the purposes 

 of the perfumer. Its fruit is much more uneven. Numerous varieties 

 of it are known, among which are all those cultivated for the sake of 

 their flowers ; especially the Horned Bigarade, a variegated variety of 

 it, and the Curled-Leaved Bigarade. The following are a few of the 

 most striking forms of this species : 



d. The Horned Bigarade, with a large pale-yellow ribbed fruit, 

 whose sides project into horns. This variety, which ia of the same 

 nature as the Fingered Sweet Orange (var. e.), its horned appear- 

 ance being caused by the separation of the carpels or fruit-lobes, is 

 in great estimation on account of the powerful mid delicious per- 

 fume of its flowers. It is the Melangolo a Frutto Cornuto of the 

 Itnlians. 



ft. The Female Bigarade, with a deep yellow large coarse fruit, 

 containing orange within orange. The circumstance from which 

 this variety derives its name is not at all uncommon in the genus 

 Cilrui, but it exists here in perhaps the most strongly-marked 

 manner. An orange in its natural state consists of one whorl of 

 carpels, which are consolidated into a round fruit, each of whose 

 lobes is one carpel. But it sometimes happens that two whorls of 

 carpels combine to form the same fruit ; in that case the inner 

 whorl is consolidated into a central orange, and the outer whorl 

 grows over it. Or it may happen that three whorls of carpels con- 

 stitute the fruit ; in that case the innermost whorl will combine 

 into an orange in the centre ; the second whorl will form a coating 

 over it ; and the most exterior whorl will inclose the whole. 

 Finally the carpels may separate wholly, as in the Fingered Citron, 

 or in part, as in the Fingered Orange and Bigarade, and then the 

 fruit consists of a number of lobes more or less distinct. Until 

 the discovery made by Gothe of the real nature of compound fruit, 

 oranges of this kind were looked upon as something wondrous, and 

 many idle speculations existed as to their cause. A figure of this 

 may be found in Kisso's ' Histoire Naturelle des Grangers,' t. 33, 

 without however any explanation of the cause of the monstrosity. 

 WAT. HIST. DIV. VOL. I. 



c. The Curled-Leaved Bigarade, with very compact blunt 

 small curled leaves, and flowers growing in thick clusters at the 

 ends of the branches. No variety is more generally cultivated 

 than this for the sake of its flowers, which are large, sweet, and 

 produced in extraordinary profusion. The French gardeners 

 call it Le Bouquetier, or Nosegay Plant, and Bigaradier Riche 

 De'pouille' ; the Italians Melangolo Ricco. The fruit is coarse, very 

 light, uneven, and with a large conspicuous scar at the point. The 

 plant itself is far more dwarf than the other varieties, and is one 

 of the most robust of its race. It is a common cbject of culti- 

 vation all over tJie South of Europe. 



d. The Purple Bigarade, with leaves, flowers, and fruit stained 

 more or less with a dull purple, especially the young leaves. 

 Hermaphrodite and Bigarade Violette of the French, Melangolo 

 Pavonezzo of the Italians. 



e. The Double-Flowered Bigarade, with rather thick leaves, 

 double flowers, round granulated fruit, and a thick rind ; the 

 common double orange of the nurseries. It is a great favourite 

 in gardens, because of its multitudes of fragrant double flowers, 

 which do not fall in pieces so quickly as those which are single ; 

 it loses its quality of producing double flowers if the soil in 

 which it grows is not kept in a very rich state. 



/. The Seville Bigarade or Orange, with round dark fruit, having 

 an uneven rugged extremely bitter rind ; commonly brought to 

 the English market, where it is consumed in the manufacture of 

 bitter tinctures, and in the preparation of candied orange-peel. The 

 bitter aromatic principle is a powerful tonic ; it gives its flavour 

 to the liqueur called Cura9oa. 



g. The Myrtle-Leaved Bigarade, with small very compact ovate 

 sharp-pointed leaves, and small round fruit ; generally both in 

 flower and fruit at the same time, if well cultivated. On this 

 account and because of its dwarf habit, it is a very common object 

 in gardens. It i said to be a Chinese production, and that it is 

 employed by the Chinese gardeners as an edging of flower-beds, in 

 the same way as the dwarf box in this country. 



h. The Bizarre Bigarade, with curled rather deformed leaves, 

 purplish or white flowers, and fruit of different sorts, some being 

 round and of the common appearance, others half bigarades and 

 half lemons or citrous, the pulp of some being sweet, that of others 

 acid and bitter. A curious lusus naturae, which was once thought 

 to be the greatest prodigy in all the vegetable kingdom. It is 

 however merely one of those sports, as they are technically called 

 by gardeners, in which, owing to some unknown cause, some one 

 individual assumes the appearance of two or more others in 

 particular parts. Analogous instances are the grape called the 

 Variegated Chasselas, some of whose fruit is black, some white, and 

 some striped with both colours ; the Camellia, which bears red, 

 white, aud party-coloured flowers on the same stem ; and the 

 Chrysanthemum, some of whose flowers are purple and others 

 yellow. This Bigarade was raised from seed by a gardener at 

 Florence in 1644, and has since been multiplied by grafting, and 

 so has been preserved to the present day. It may be procured 

 from the nurserymen of France and Italy, and it fruits annually 

 in the orangery at Versailles. 



3. C. Bergamia, the Bergamot Ornnge. Leaves oblong, flowers 

 small, very sweet. Fruit pear-shaped or flattened, rugged, with a 

 greenish-yellow smooth rind filled with concave receptacles of oil. 

 Pulp subacid, very fragrant. The trees of this species are rather 

 variable in appearance. The fragrance of both flowers and fruit is 

 peculiar. From each of them the perfumer procures an essence of a 

 delicious quality. The rind, deprived of the pulp, first dried, and 

 then moistened with water, is pressed in moulds into fancy boxes for 

 holding lozenges and other sweetmeats, and these boxes retain much 

 of their recent odour. The Mellarosa of the Italians is a variety, with 

 ribbed fruit, having a broad scar at the summit ; it is much esteemed 

 on account of the abundance of its flowers. 



4. C. Limetta, the Lime. Leaves ovate, obovate, and oblong, 

 placed upon a wingless stalk. Flowers small and white. Fruit ovate 

 or roundish, pale-yellow, with a boss at the point ; the cysts in the 

 rind concave ; pulp subacid. In foliage this resembles the lemon, but 

 its fruit differs in the pulp never having the sharp and powerful acid 

 of the lemon ; it is on the contrary flat and slightly bitter : it is prin- 

 cipally employed for flavouring punch, sherbet, and similar drinks. 

 The varieties are of no importance ; they principally differ in the 

 thickness of their rind and in form. Here is to be arranged the round 

 very uneven fruit called Porno d'Adamo by the Italians, because they 

 iancy that the depressions upon its surface look as if they still bora 

 ;he marks of our universal father's teeth. 



5. C. decumana, the Shaddock. Leaves large, with a winged 

 stalk. Flowers very large and white. Fruit usually very large, 

 roundish, pale yellow, smooth, with flat or convex cysts in the rind. 

 Kind white, spongy, very thick ; pulp juicy, sweetish, rather insipid. 

 Shaddocks are among the largest fruits which are known, and are 

 commonly cultivated in both the East and West ludies for the sake- 

 of the delicate subacid juicy pulp in which they abound. When 

 ;hey arrive at their greatest size they are called Pompoleons or 

 Pompelmousses ; when at the smallest they form the Forbidden Fruit. 

 >f the English markets. Another small variety, with the shaddocks, 



4 c 



