The Malta or Portugal Oranges. 27 



of Risso, in 1818, or at all events Gallesio's in 1811, in 

 Europe, the sweet orange meant was that of the Por- 

 tugal type, the round, close-skinned, subacid and sweet 

 orange (when ripe) the Citrus aurantium sinense of 

 Gallesio. 



At the beginning of the sixteenth century (A.D. 1519) 

 the Emperor Baber, in his memoirs, besides the 

 oranges of Lemghanat, Bajour, and Sewad, mentions 

 those of Khorassan, and that there was a trade in 

 oranges between Asterabad and Samarkand. For 

 oranges to be so plentiful there as to be carried to 

 distant places (about 1 100 miles), it would presuppose 

 that this sweet orange had been introduced into Cen- 

 tral Asia at least one, or perhaps two centuries before. 

 But whether it found its way there from Western India 

 and the Persian Gulf, or from the Mediterranean, by 

 way of Syria, I have no means of ascertaining. 



In the " Flora of British India," under the species 

 Citrus aurantium of Linnaeus, var. i, aurantium 

 proper little is given beyond what I have already 

 extracted under the heading of " Seville Oranges." 

 The author adds for this variety " petiole naked or 

 winged, pulp sweet, yellow, rarely red." 



In order to distinguish the two types of sweet 

 oranges, I shall give a more detailed description of 

 this Portugal orange type. Tree, not slender ; leaves, 

 typically large, with a. faint and indistinct scent ; peti- 

 ole, oftener only marginedft&Jb winged ; spines, usually 

 mere points ; flowers, large white ; fruit, with a closely- 

 fitting skin, never baggy ; when cut open, a distinctive 

 odour is emitted, which I found common to all varieties 

 of this type, and which cannot be described in words ; 

 pulp, not of a bright orange, often only yellow orange ; 

 centre, small, and mostly not hollow ; seeds, white when 

 cut. In some varieties, the pulp is streaked with blood 



