THE ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS 



147 



Nature has been more liberal to the Oriental in regard to 

 fruits. Of greatest antiquity are the apricot, peach and banana; 

 all of which are supposed to have been grown as cultivated plants 

 since 4000 B.C. The citrus fruits are considered to have become 

 domesticated in the period between 2000 B.C. and the beginning 

 of the Christian Era. These include the orange, lemon, grape- 

 fruit, CITRON and lime. More recent products of this region 

 are the loquat and kumquat. 



Fig. 87. — A list of the cultivated plants originating in the Oriental region. 



Two of our most popular flowering ornamentals — the rose 

 and the chrysanthemum — ^were developed from species native 

 to the Orient, before the birth of Christ. The Chrysanthemum is 



