Home › C › Citrus (From the Greek name Kitron)

Citrus (From the Greek name Kitron)

(from the Greek name, Kitron). Orange-tree. ORD. Rutaceae. Greenhouse evergreen trees or shrubs, having axillary spines and simple leaves, with their petioles usually winged. Flowers white, exquisitely fragrant. Some plants of the Citrus family are found in most gardens. The flowers are produced at all seasons, and are much used for wedding bouquets. The leaves are of a glossy green colour; and even the non-flowering plants have a fine appearance. The soil used when cultivating in pots or tubs should be a moderately heavy loam, to which a liberal portion of decayed manure and sand has been added. During the growing season, some liquid manure should be regularly supplied; but, as soon as growth declines, this should be gradually stopped. A moist atmosphere should be kept up during the season of growth, as one approaching drought causes the plants to have a starved and stunted appearance. In potting, the soil should be rammed firmly, or the wood will be too soft and sappy to ripen properly. If grown in a greenhouse, the heat must not be less than 45deg. in winter; and in summer, of course, it will vary, the ordinary temperature, with plenty of air at all times, being suitable. Propagation may be effected by seed, cuttings, layers, grafting and budding. The object of raising plants from seed is to obtain stocks for grafting or budding. The seedlings should be raised on a hotbed; in the course of six weeks, they will be fit to plant separately into pots, after which they must be replaced in the hotbed, and shaded for some time, but afterwards allowed plenty of air, in order to harden them. In August of the next year, they will be sufficiently strong for budding; after the operation has been performed, they should be placed under a hand glass. In the course of a month, it will be observable whether the buds have taken; they must then be untied, and allowed to remain in the greenhouse all the winter. In spring, cut off the heads of the stocks, 3in. above the buds, again place them in a moderate hotbed, and by the end of July they will have made shoots 2ft. long. Then harden them off before the cold sets in, by gradual exposure to the air. Of most of the following species there are a great number of varieties, more or less distinct.

For cultivation of Citrus as a dessert fruit, see Orange. C. Aurantium (golden).* Sweet Orange. fr. golden, globose, with a thin rind and sweet pulp. l. ovate-oblong, acuminate; petioles almost naked. h. 10ft. to 30ft. Asia, 1595.

C. decumana (huge). Shaddock. fr. very large an round, about the size of a cannon-ball, often 10lb. to 14lb. weight; rind even, of a greenish-yellow colour, thick, fungous, and bitter. l. oval, obtuse, or emarginate, pubescent beneath; petioles with broad cordate wings; branches prickly. h. 18ft. Assumed to have been derived from Polynesia; now naturalised in many tropical countries. 1722.

C. japonica (Japanese). Kumquat. fr. globose or shortly ellipsoid, bright orange-yellow, four to six-celled; rind thick, minutely tuberculate; pulp watery, sweet, and acidulous. h. 4ft. to 6ft. A cultivated from, from china and Japan. Mr. Fortune--who introduced it--gives the following hints as to its cultivation. In summer, it requires a plentiful supply of water, at a temperature of 80deg. or 100deg. and a high atmospheric heat continued into autumn, whilst in winter it should be kept cool and rather dry, for it will then bear 10deg. and even 15deg. of frost. It succeeds well grafted on Citrus trifoliata. The Kumquat is a well-known ingredient in Chinese sweetmeats. C. Limetta (Lime).* Sweet Lime, or Lemon Bergamotte. fr. globose, with a blunt, nipple-like protuberance at the apex, a firm rind, and sweet pulp. l. ovate-roundish, serrated; petioles subulate. h. 8ft. to 15ft. Asia, 1648. Adam's Apple is a name sometimes given to the fruit of this species. C. Limonum.* Lemon. fr. oblong, with a very thin yellow rind, which adheres to the acid pulp. l. oval-oblong, crenulated; petioles somewhat winged. h. 8ft. to 10ft. Asia, 1648. (B. M. Pl. 54.) C. medica ("the fruits of the Citron were called Mala medica, or Mala persica, by the Romans, from the country of their origin").* Citron, or Cedrat. fr. often 6in. long ovate, with a protuberance at the tip; usually nine-celled; pulp white, and commonly acid; rind yellow, thick hardish, odoriferous, irregular; esculent, both raw and preserved. l. oblong, obtuse; petioles naked. Branches spiny. h. 8ft. to 16ft. Asia, 1648.

C. m. acida (acid). The cultivated West Indian Lime. This is a variety of C. medica, with smaller globose fruit. It is the principal source whence citric acid is obtained, and is largely grown in the West Indies, especially in Montserrat and Dominica. (B. M. 6745.) C. nobilis(noble).* Mandarin Orange. fr. reddish, both without and within, containing sweet juice, and having edible sweet rind; depressed, nine to twelve-celled. l. somewhat ovate; petioles rather linear, straight. Branches ascending, unarmed. h. 15ft. China, 1805.

C. trifoliata (three-leaved). fr. orange-yellow, spherical, about 1 1/2in. in diameter. l. trifoliate; leaflets sessile, elliptic-obtuse, on a winged petiole. Branches robust, often more or less flattened bearing stiff spines. h. 4ft. Japan. Hardy. SYN. Pseudaegle sepiaria. (B. M. 6513.) C. vulgaris (common). Common Seville or Bitter Orange. fr. globose, with a thin, scabrous, or smooth rind, and a bitter acrid pulp. l. elliptical, acuminate, crenulated; petioles with a heart-shaped wing. Stem erect; branches spiny. h. 20ft. to 30ft. Asia, 1595.