Orange

Plant Characteristics

Habit		tree
Height:	⇕	6 m"m" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 6.
Width:	⇔	9 m"m" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 9.
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun
Water:	◍	moist, moderate
Features:	✓	fragrance, fruit
USDA Zones:		9 to 11
Sunset Zones:		8, 9, 12-27, indoors

Scientific Names

Rutaceae >

Citrus >

sinensis >

An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus fruit Citrus sinensis (syn. Citrus aurantium L. var. dulcis L., or Citrus aurantium Risso) and its fruit. The orange is a hybrid of ancient cultivated origin, possibly between pomelo (Citrus maxima) and tangerine (Citrus reticulata). It is a small flowering tree growing to about 10 m tall with evergreen leaves, which are arranged alternately, of ovate shape with crenulate margins and 4–10 cm long. The orange fruit is a hesperidium, a type of berry.

Oranges originated in Southeast Asia. The fruit of Citrus sinensis is called sweet orange to distinguish it from Citrus aurantium, the bitter orange. In a number of languages, it is known as a "Chinese apple" (e.g. Dutch Sinaasappel, "China's apple", or "Apfelsine" in German). The name is thought to ultimately derive from the Dravidian word for the orange tree, with its final form developing after passing through numerous intermediate languages.

Read about Orange in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Citrus sinensis Osbeck (C. Aurantium var. sinensis, Linn. C. Aurantium, Lour, et Auct., not Linn.). Common or Sweet Orange. A medium-sized tree, with a rounded top and regular branches: spines, when present, slender, flexible, rather blunt: lvs. medium-sized, rounded at the base, pointed at the apex; petiole narrowly winged, articulated both with the blade and the twig: fls. medium-sized, smaller than those of the sour orange, white in the bud; petals white on both surfaces; stamens 20-25; ovary subglobose, clearly delimited from the deciduous style: fr. sub- globose or oval, pith solid, pulp sweet, membranes not bitter in taste, segms. 10-12 or 13 in number; seeds cuneate-ovoid with rugose margined plane surfaces, white inside.—The common or sweet orange is widely cult, in all the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is rather tender, not so hardy as the sour or Seville orange, but much more cold-resistant than the lemon or lime. A very few orange trees occur in a semi- wild state in S. Fla. Sweet oranges were doubtless intro. into Fla. by the Spaniards nearly four centuries ago and, as they were prop, by seeds until within the last half-century, many local varieties have arisen there. Orange-culture has reached its highest development in S. Calif., where it constitutes one of the most important agricultural industries. Fla. is second only to Calif. in the extent and value of the orange groves, while some oranges arc grown in favored spots in La., Texas, and Ariz.—Oranges are the best known and probably the most highly esteemed dessert fr. A few are used in cooking and the peel is sometimes candied. An essential oil is also pressed from the peel. The sweet orange is commonly used as a stock on which to graft other species of citrous frs. It grows well on light well-drained loam or sandy loam soil. On heavy soil it is subject to the mal di gomma or foot- rot. Very many varieties are in cult. Some of the principal sorts grown in the U. S. are listed here. (1) Florida seedlings— varieties originated in Fla. as a result of prop, oranges from seed, mostly strong-growing trees: Parson Brown. Frs. medium-sized, very early. Pineapple. Frs. medium or large, very juicy; seeds rather numerous: midseason: tree a strong grower. Homosassa. Frs. medium-sized, very juicy: a good bearer and keeper: tree nearly thornless. Madam Vinous. Frs. medium or large; pulp coarse-grained, juicy; midseason. Nonpareil. Frs. rather large, flattened; pulp fine-grained, juicy: tree vigorous. Also Arcadia, Summit, Foster, Hick, Magnum Bonum, May, Old Vini. Osceola, Stark, Whittaker, and very many others of the same general type. (2) Florida mutations or hybrids—new sorts originated in Fla., usually differing in some striking way from the old Fla. seedling ranges, perhaps through hybridization with foreign varieties. Boone (Boone's Early). Frs. medium size, strongly oval or oblong, very juicy, very late, keeping well on the tree: lvs. with petioles varying in width. Lue Gim Gong. Frs. oval, juicy, ripening very late and holding very well on the tree, even until late summer. A variety newly intro. into cult. Drake Star. A rare variety with variegated foliage; usually a poor bearer but sometimes bearing a good crop of excellent fr. (3) Mediterranean varieties, largely intro. into Fla. by Sanford and Lyman Phelps, about 30-40 years ago: Ruby. Frs. small or medium-sized; peel red-orange; pulp streaked with red when fully ripe, juicy; seeds rather few: rather late: tree vigorous, nearly thornless, prolific. St. Michael. Frs. medium-sized, oblong, red-blotched when ripe; flesh wine-red; seeds few; rather early. Jaffa. Frs. large, oblong, juicy; seeds few. Possibly not the same as the celebrated orange of Jaffa, Palestine. Mediterranean Sweet. Frs. large, oval, juicy, late: tree nearly thornless. Majorca. Frs. round or slightly flattened, juicy: rather late. Hart (Hart's Tardiff). Frs. round or slightly oval, medium to large size, juicy; seeds few; ripens very late: similar to the next and thought by some to be identical. Valencia (Valencia Late). Frs. medium to large, oval or rounded, juicy, nearly seedless, very late. A prolific variety, largely grown in Calif. and held in cold storage until early autumn. There are many other Medit. varieties of nearly or quite as much value as some of the above, such as, Centennial, Du Roi, Joppa, Paper Rind, Prata, Saul Blood, St. Michael (Blood), etc.—The navel oranges all show a second smaller more or less included fr. formed at the tip of the main fr. Many varieties are of foreign origin. Washington (Bahia, Washington Navel). Fr. large, rounded slightly, pointed at apex; flesh firm, juicy; skin very tough; seedless: early midseason. The most famous variety of oranges intro. from Bahia, Brazil, by Wm. Saunders of the U. S. Dept. of Agric. in 1870. Its cult. has steadily extended in Calif. until it is the principal variety grown there. It does not succeed well in Fla. Thompson (Thompson's Improved Navel). A smooth-skinned hard-fleshed variety found by A. D. Shamel to arise as a mutation from the preceding, to which it is inferior in quality though better in appearance. Australian. Frs. large, coarse: tree vigorous, but a shy bearer. Also found by Shamel as a variation of the Washington Navel (Bahia). Surprise. Fr. medium-sized, rounded or even slightly flattened, juicy, early, seedless. A variety originated by E. S. Hubbard, of Fla. Double Imperial. Fr. small or medium-sized, navel hidden: pulp firm; seeds few or none. A Brazilian variety, said to fruit well in Fla. when budded on trifoliate orange stock. There are many other varieties of navel oranges occasionally grown on a commercial scale. In Calif., among others, Golden Nugget and Navelencia; in Fla., Egyptian, Melitensis, and Sustain are known. There are doubtless many more navel oranges which should be tested. See Orange. Hybrids: Citranges are hardy hybrids between the common sweet orange and the trifoliate orange, Poncirus trifoliata. The principal varieties are the Rusk, Morton, Colman, Savage, Cunningham and Saunders. See description under Citrange.CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Fruit

All citrus trees are of the single genus Citrus, and remain largely interbreedable; that is, there is only one "superspecies" which includes grapefruits, lemons, limes and oranges. Nevertheless, names have been given to the various members of the genus, oranges often being referred to as Citrus sinensis and Citrus aurantium. Fruits of all members of the genus Citrus are considered berries because they have many seeds, are fleshy and soft, and derive from a single ovary. An orange seed is called a pip. The white thread-like material, attached to the inside of the peel is called pith.

Varieties

Persian orange

The Persian orange, grown widely in southern Europe after its introduction to Italy in the 11th century, was bitter. Sweet oranges brought to Europe in the 15th century from India by Portuguese traders, quickly displaced the bitter, and are now the most common variety of orange cultivated. The sweet orange will grow to different sizes and colours according to local conditions, most commonly with ten carpels, or segments, inside.

Some South East European tongues name orange after Portugal, which was formerly the main source of imports of sweet oranges. Examples are Bulgarian portokal [портокал], Greek portokali [πορτοκάλι], Romanian portocală and Georgian phortokhali [ფორთოხალი]. Also in South Italian dialects (Neapolitan), orange is named portogallo or purtualle, literally "the Portuguese ones". Related names can also be found in non-European languages: Turkish Portakal, Arabic al-burtuqal [البرتقال], Persian porteghal [پرتقال] and Amharic birtukan.

Portuguese, Spanish, Arab, and Dutch sailors planted citrus trees along trade routes to prevent scurvy. On his second voyage in 1493, Christopher Columbus brought the seeds of oranges, lemons and citrons to Haiti and the Caribbean. They were introduced in Florida (along with lemons) in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, and were introduced to Hawaii in 1792.

Navel orange

A peeled sectioned navel orange. The underdeveloped twin is located on the bottom right.

A single mutation in 1820 in an orchard of sweet oranges planted at a monastery in Brazil yielded the navel orange, also known as the Washington, Riverside, or Bahie navel. The mutation causes navel oranges to develop a second orange at the base of the original fruit, opposite the stem. The second orange develops as a conjoined twin in a set of smaller segments embedded within the peel of the larger orange. From the outside, the smaller, and undeveloped twin leaves a formation at the bottom of the fruit that looks similar to the human navel.

Because the mutation left the fruit seedless and, therefore, sterile, the only means available to cultivate more of this new variety is to graft cuttings onto other varieties of citrus tree. Two such cuttings of the original tree were transplanted to Riverside, California in 1870, which eventually led to worldwide popularity.

Today, navel oranges continue to be produced via cutting and grafting. This does not allow for the usual selective breeding methodologies, and so not only do the navel oranges of today have exactly the same genetic makeup as the original tree, and are therefore clones; in a sense, all navel oranges can be considered to be the fruit of that single, over a century-old tree.

On rare occasions, however, further mutations can lead to new varieties.

Valencia orange

The Valencia or Murcia orange is one of the sweet oranges used for juice extraction. It is a late-season fruit, and therefore a popular variety when the navel oranges are out of season. For this reason, the orange was chosen to be the official mascot of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Spain. The mascot was called "Naranjito" ("little orange"), and wore the colours of the Spanish soccer team uniform.

Blood orange

Orange output in 2005

The blood orange has streaks of red in the fruit, and the juice is often a dark burgundy colour. The fruit has found a niche as an interesting ingredient variation on traditional Seville marmalade, with its striking red streaks and distinct flavour. The scarlet navel is a variety with the same diploid mutation as the navel orange.

Propagation

Grafting, cuttings for true offspring. Seed.

Uses

Fruit, juice, marmelade. Oil from peel. Orange peel is used by gardeners as a slug repellent. Orange leaves can be boiled to make tea.

Gallery

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  These varieties are called 'Ambersweet' oranges.

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  Featured here are orange seeds (pips).

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  Navel oranges from Florida are the most common to be sold in US grocery stores.

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  Satsuma Oranges picked on Christmas day 2007 in Gainesville, Florida

References

• McPhee, John. Oranges (1966) - focuses on Florida groves.
• Sackman, Douglas Cazaux. Orange Empire: California and the Fruits of Eden (2005) comprehensive, multidimensional history of citrus industry in California
• Train, John. Oranges (2006)