The Mandarin Group of Oranges. 55 



Its apex or distal end is often so red that it is not un- 

 like the colour of a red tomato. It sweetens late and 

 is not very juicy. Its leaves have the keonla scent. 

 It is not common and only found in collections in 

 native gardens. In Kandy they called it heen-ndrun. 



The Mandarin orange proper, I think, belongs to 

 this group, but is a totally distinct orange. I believe 

 it to be the same that Risso called Bigaradier a 

 feuille de myrte. Its exterior is so shiny that it looks 

 as if it had been varnished. PI. n6(A) is taken 

 from the Flor. Amboin., of Rumphius. He calls it 

 Aurantium sinense. His description of it coincides 

 with that of the suntara orange of India. Loureiro 

 refers to this plate under the name of Citrus nobilis, 

 and De Candolle, under the name of Mandarin, gives 

 Loureiro's botanical designation. Loureiro, however 

 says that his C. nobilis agrees most with the A. 

 sinense of Rumphius, but even this, he says, does not 

 coincide with his description of C. nobilis. 



A. de Candolle, regarding this variety, says " This 

 species, characterized by its smaller fruit, uneven on 

 the surface, spherical, but flattened at the top, and of 

 a peculiar flavour, is now prized in Europe, as it has 

 been from the earliest times in China, and Cochin 

 China. The Chinese call it kan* Rumphius had 

 seen it cultivated in all the Sunda islands, and says 

 that it was introduced thither from China, but it had 

 not spread into India. Roxburgh and Sir J. Hooker 

 do not mention it, but Clarke informs me that its 

 culture has been greatly extended in the district of 

 Khasia. It was new to European gardeners at the 

 beginning of the present century, when Andrews 

 published a good illustration of it in the " Botanist's 



* Rumphius says the generic name of the orange in Chinese is 

 kam. 



