34 STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



been given to the study of the nectaries, and their sweet con- 

 tents, of the orange forbids a comparison with otlier varieties. 

 As in this family of plants this characteristic is a staminal or 

 male development, and by analogy with the known habits of 

 wild flowers it is certain that the sour orange has large, well- 

 filled nectaries, aiding, as does the color of its petals, the dis- 

 tribution of its pollen by insect agencies. While these organs 

 may not be regarded as protecting the individual, as the thorns 

 and bitter of the fruit, yet to the species and staminal varieties 

 it is one of the essential means of self-protection in pollination 

 by the aid of insects. The fruit is unsightly and rough, bitter 

 and acrid. The oil is pungent and the fragrance heavy, as 

 are the oils of the leaves and flowers. The pulp is sour and 

 partakes of the bitterness of the rind. The oil cells are con- 

 cave. The tree carries well-formed thorns distributed to the 

 ends of the branch, and when ripe strong germinating seeds for 

 reproduction. Every quality and development of the tree is 

 protective, and these staminal qualities have guarded its life, 

 under adverse conditions, for centuries from destruction by 

 birds, animals, and mankind. 



The characteristics of the bitter orange are given in detail, 

 as this orange, highly sexualized, and strong in its staminate 

 and pistillate power, is a type for all, and has imparted some 

 of its qualities to all the varieties of our orchards. How has 

 this orange with its combination of disagreeable qualities been 

 changed and modified, and some of its qualities eliminated, to 

 give us the Konah, the St. Michael, and the Washington 

 Navel and other meritorious varieties? 



Staminal or Male Characteristics. — By the law of vegetable 

 growth, plants construct and form themselves; they increase 

 and multiply themselves. The orange multiplies by the root 

 growth of adventitious buds, that eventually form perfect 

 trees; by cuttings; by the development of buds in the limb, 

 that grow to branches and fruitfulness; and by a seed embryo 

 developed in the ripened fruit. The adventitious bud in the 

 root, and the branch bud are the result of the sex impulse dis- 

 tributed through the entire tree structure. The embryo of the 

 seed is the result of special adaptations in the structure of the 

 leaf. The perfect development of the nucleus of the seed is 

 the strength of the united reproductive functions of the entire 

 tree, and although the root and branch bud are liable to 



