TREATISE ON THE CITRUS FAMILY. 



35 



Limonc'lUift aiiL'uluMi.r, inalaicr. 



Lemon utaii Basagi. (Rump.) 



The angulous agruuic is still farther removed 

 from the European Citrus, and appears to con- 

 ned this genus with the lititoma by the bila<'s 

 taurinus of Rumphius. 



Its stem is not larger than one's arm; its 

 branches are crooked and knotty; the leaf, rest- 

 ing upon a simple petiole, grows between two 

 thorns, which form a sharp angle ut the point 

 where the bud appears, and the next leaf grows 

 solitary by the side of the bud, with no trace of a 

 thorn ; this arrangement, in the old branches, 

 alternates in such a way as to make a leaf with- 

 out thorn succeed a leaf with two thorns, even 

 to the last shoot, while the young and new 

 branches bear solitary leaves, the double thorn 

 developing only in old age, as already spoken of. 

 The flowers are solitary and white, resembling 

 those of the Union nipis, but are smaller, and have 

 five petals. We know nothing of its fertilizing 

 organs. 



The fruit is very small, and sometimes four, 

 at times five-angled, and flattened upon the 

 sides ; of a greenish color while young, but occa- 

 sionally growing yellow at maturity. A very 

 thin skin encloses sections full of a glutinous 

 juice, with odor like the Union nipis, but not 

 edible. It contains four or five seeds. 



Rumphius adds that this bush, found lately in 

 the marshy woods of Mangee (India), near the sea, 

 is almost, unknown to the natives, and that it 

 grows in the salt water which covers the soil at 

 high tide. 



It is easy to see the connection between the 

 limondlus anyulosus and the bilacus taurinus. 



VARIETIES NO. XII. 



Acrumcu Japouicuni foliis tcrnatis, fructu tctrico, pulpa 



Monogyuia, under the name of tri[>lm >.* auran- 

 tiola. 



This discord, which docs not escape his obser- 

 vation, leads him to think either that botanists 

 preceding him have not closely observed, 

 or that their Citrus trifoliata is a plant of dit 

 ferent species from that which he is describing. 

 I should think, with regard to the first opinion, 

 that if Kaempfer's description were less detailed, 

 one might supppose this author had not carefully 

 j observed this flower, to which, in his time, very 

 little importance was attached ; but the descrip- 

 tion is so precise, and agrees so well with the 

 accompanying drawing, that we must believe his 

 Citrus trifoliata, a dillercnt species from the fri- 

 phasia aurantioia of Loureiro. 



This belongs, doubtless, in the artificial system 

 of Linnams, to a different class, but in the natural 

 system it ought to be connected to the same fam- 

 ily, and should make a link of the great chain 

 forming the family of Agrumi. 



It is to be desired that individuals of all these 

 species should be brought to Europe, for it is 

 only by a thorough and careful examination of 

 their characteristics that one can judge of their 

 proper places in the natural system. 



It is pretended that the Cttt-us trifoliata has al- 

 ready been cultivated in the orangery of the Bo- 

 tanical Garden at Paris, but one must believe it 

 has also perished there, for 1 have sought for it 

 in vain. They have shown me only a lii/ionia 

 trifoliata, which, as it has never blossomed, can- 

 not be thoroughly known. We must then wail 

 until enlightened botanists can observe them in 

 their native countries with more attention. 



dit Japon a fcuilles tenices. 

 A.ijrumc Giaponico. 

 Citrus foliis ternatis. (Linn.) 

 Citrus trifolia : Grander a fcuilles tcrnccs. (De&fyiit.) 



The Citrus trifoliata was the first to take a place 

 among our Agrumi. Linmt'us regarded it as a 

 species of the Citrus, and named it in lusty/sterna 

 Plantarum, citrus foliis ternatis. 



Three authors have given us its description. 

 Kaempfer first, then Thumberg, and finally Lou- 

 reiro. 



Kaempfer paints it as a fruit whose branches 

 are twisted, and leaves ternate (like clover). The 

 {lowers, resembling those of the medlar tree, are 

 axillary, solitary, and formed of five oval petals, 

 terminated by a sort of guard like a long finger- 

 nail, and enclosing twenty or twenty-five sta- 

 mens, with free filaments surrounding a short and 

 globulous pistil, which changes into a fruit look- 

 ing like an orange, yet containing, within seven 

 sections, a glutinous and disagreeable pulp. 



Thumberg's description accords -with that by 

 Kaempfer, but he says nothing of the number 

 and position ol' stamens. It appear?, ho\yever, 

 that he supposed them to be the same as in the 

 Citrus trifoliate of Kaempfer, seeing that he 

 ranges this that he describes in the class Polya- 

 delphia, order Icosandria. 



Loureiro reports as Citrus trif<>littt,u. plant re- 

 sembling that of Kaempfer and Thumberg in 

 many traits, yet of which the llower is totally 

 different, and he, in consequence, makes il a sop 

 arato s^enu^, which lie classes. in Iho IVntandria 



CHAPTER IV. 



I11STOHY OF THE CITRUS. 



AKT. 1. Studies upon the citron tree Indigenous 

 in Media Naturalized in Palestine, Greece, and 

 Date of its transmigration. 



Centuries roll on before man gathers upon one 

 soil the many plants scattered over the surface 

 of the globe. He can for a long time content 

 himself with the productions which Nature may 

 have given abundantly in his own country ; but, 

 as civilization extends his needs, his knowledge 

 and connections, he lays all climates under con- 

 tribution to enrich his native soil, of which he 

 multiplies the resources and means by a laborious 

 industry. 



It is thus that we see the fruits of Asia grow- 

 ing beside those of Europe and of Africa, and 

 new trees, taken from distant regions, succeed 

 to plants less useful. The citron, lemon, and 

 orange trees are the last among exotic produc- 

 tions which have contributed to the embellish- 

 ment of our gardens. Placed by Nature in va- 

 rious climates, they have become known to Eu- 

 ropeans at dillercnt epochs, and as the result of 

 very dissimilar events. 



It seems that the citron first appeared. Indige- 

 nous in Media, it was soon propagated in many 

 parts of Persia, where the. Hebrews and the 

 (Jrceks could easily learn of il. It is not possi- 

 ble, however, to fix. the precise date when these 

 two nations began ils cultivation, nor by what 

 stops this nilliin- prm-lnlcd in i 



