Genus CITRUS, Linn. 
Aurantiacese. Polydelphia Icosandna. 
Syst. Nat. Syst. Lin. 
Derivation. The meaning of the word Citrus has escaped the ingenuity of philologers and etymologists; it was probably 
corrupted from the Latin word cedrns, a name applied by the Romans to various kinds of trees, which they ignorantly con- 
founded. It is supposed by some to be derived from kitron, the Greek name of the lemon-tree. 
Distinctive Characters. The common character of the citrus family, is that of low, evergreen trees, with 
ovate or oval-lanceolate, entire, or serrated leaves. On trees in a wild state, or on ungrafted cultivated 
ones, there are often axillary spines. The flowers occur in peduncles, axillary or terminating, and sin- 
gle or many-flowered. The fruits are large berries, round, spheroidal, or oblong, and generally of a 
yellow colour. The species appear to be the most easily distinguished by the petiole, which, in the 
orange and shaddock, is winged ; while in the citron, lemon, and lime, it is naked. The form of the 
fruit, although not constant, may serve, in a measure, for a distinction. In the orange and shaddock 
it is spherical, or rather flattened at the ends, with a reddish yellow, or golden-coloured rind ; in the 
lime, the form is spherical, or oblong, with a pale, yellowish rind ; in the lemon, oblong, rough, with a 
pointed protuberance at the end ; and in the citron, the form is oblong, with a very thick greenish, or 
yellow rind. The flowers of the citron and lemon have ten stamens, but those of the orange more. 
After all, it is very difficult to determine what is a species, and what a variety in this family. 
kHE beautiful and tree-like forms of this genus, clothed as they are 
in shining and perennial verdure, odoriferous flowers, and adorned 
with brilliant, fragrant, and delicious fruits, must have attracted 
the attention of aboriginal man, long before other fruits of less bril- 
liancy, though more nutritious, and grateful to his senses. The 
"golden apples" of the heathens, and the "forbidden fruit" of the 
JeAvs, are supposed to have reference to this family, though we have no authentic 
records of any species of citrus having been cultivated either by the ancient 
Greeks or Romans. The citron was introduced into Europe from Media, under 
the name of Medica, and was cultivated in Italy by Palladio, in the Ilnd centu- 
ry ; but the introduction of the other species has been, comparatively, of recent 
date. They are all natives of the torrid zone, chiefly of India, and have been 
disseminated throughout the warmer and more temperate regions of the habitable 
globe. The limes are classified by modern botanists under the name of Limonia, 
a new genus, derived from the Arabic, lymoun, a citron. It is not very well 
known, however, but it is said to include nearly twenty species, one of which is 
a native of East Florida, the Limorria ambigua, of Nuttall. There are also sev- 
eral half-hardy kinds, natives of the Himalayas and Nepal, which are said to 
grow at considerable elevations, and are adapted to the climate of the temperate 
parts of Europe, and of the United States, without protection in winter. 
The most splendid work on this genus which has ever appeared, is the " His- 
toire Naturelle des Orangers," by Risso, of Nice, and Poiteau, of Versailles, 
published in folio, at Paris, in 1818. There are described in this treatise one 
hundred and sixty-nine sorts, one hundred and five of them figured, and their 
French and Italian culture given at great length. They are classified as sweet 
oranges, of which they describe forty-three varieties or races; bitter and sour 
oranges, thirty-two; bergamots, five; limes, eight; pampelucos or shaddocks, 
six ; sweet limes, twelve ; lemons, forty-six ; and citrons, seventeen varieties. 
Dr. Sickler, who lived several years in Italy, and paid particular attention to 
the culture of the orange, published, in 1815, a work entitled " Der Volkommen 
Orangerie Gartner," in which he describes above seventy kinds of citrus. And 
Galesio, in his " Traite du Genre Citrus," etc., Savonna, 1818, has given a 
synopsis of forty principal kinds cultivated in Italy. 
