In 1750, a 'forbidden fruit' appeared in Barbados. By the early 1800s, it was reported in Jamaica and on other islands of the West Indies. In 1823, Count Odet Philippe brought seeds of the forbidden fruit from the Bahamas to Safety Harbor in Tampa Bay. When Philippe's trees fruited, neighbors passed around the novelty citrus and its seeds. Philippe and friends started the citrus industry in the state.

In his Flora of Jamaica (1837), James Macfadyen proposed that this smaller shaddock, borne in clusters like grapes, was a sport of the pummelo. Being a 'forbidden fruit', he named it Citrus paradisi (citrus of paradise).

The toronja or grapefruit is a youngster among the Citrus clan—the fruit only came into existence about 256 years ago. It was not even realized until 1948, that the grapefruit was a hybrid of the pummelo and sweet orange backcrossed to the pummelo. The botanical name was altered with an 'X' to reflect the hybrid status. Oddly, no one knows why the grapefruit was considered a forbidden fruit.

(Compiled from: "Citrus", Hortus Third, Staff L.H. Bailey Hortorium, NY State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Macmillan, 1976 and "Pummelo, Citrus maxima" and "Grapefruit, Citrus paradisi", Fruits of Warm Climates, Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL 1987)