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What is the most common fruit tree?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

February 11, 2003

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Suggested Reading—>Click here.

Killer Savings: Spring Hill Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.

Gurney's Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.

Assorted Killer Savings Garden Links—>Click here.

Killer Picks: Key Lime, Meyer Lemon, Navel Orange, Venous Orange, Tangerine—>Click here.

The ancient Mesopotamians, Jews, Greeks, and Romans knew of citrus in the form of the citron (Citrus medica Linnaeus). Theophrastus wrote of the citron in the third century BCE as common in Media, now northwestern Iran. Arab traders brought lemons (Citrus X limon (L.) Osbeck) and sour oranges (Citrus X aurantium Linnaeus) from eastern Asia and spread the trees throughout the Mediterranean from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries.

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According to Julia F. Morton (Fruits of Warm Climates, 1987), sour oranges were even grown in England in the 1600s. The seeds were introduced by Sir Walter Scott and the trees survived until 1739 when a hard winter killed the trees. Sour oranges were planted wherever sailors landed; the trees naturalized in their new homes.

Sweet oranges (Citrus X aurantium var. sinensis) were known in the empire of Constantine I (306-337 CE), but were lost to the western world after the fall of the Roman Empire. Stephen Hui (Sweet Oranges: The Biogeography of Citrus sinensis, 1999) notes that sweet oranges were not mentioned in European records until 1500s. The trees may have been introduced by Italian traders in the late 1400s or by Portuguese sailors in the early 1500s. Along with the sour orange, sweets traveled the world.

The sweet orange is now thought the single most commonly grown fruit tree in the world. No one is certain how many varieties have been developed; only a few are regularly cultivated. The trees are grown in Asia, South Africa, Australia, the Mediterranean, and the Americas. The University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service states that in Florida alone 180,000 hectares are in production generating over $850 million per year.

The University of Florida, Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants has three photographs of the sweet orange. To view the photographs, click on the link:

http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/citsin.html

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images.

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

Suggested Reading:

What is so tricky about a citrus pip? Weird Plants - February 20, 2003
What is a navel orange? Weird Plants - February 13, 2003
What fruit was used for colds? Herbal Folklore - February 10, 2003
Why was it called an orange? What's in a Name? - February 14, 2003
What is the Meyer lemon? Weird Plants - February 6, 2003

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Spring Hill Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.

Gardens Alive! -$20 off—>Click here.

Michigan Bulb -$20 off—>Click here.

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		Fruit Trees, Dwarf Key Lime Gurney's Seed and Nursery® Flowers and Fragrance, Too! Evergreen foliage, sweetly scented flowers and edible fruit in one! Can be moved outdoors in summer, so the bees take care of pollination for you. Varieties grow from 2-5 feet tall. Pick citrus in 1-3 years, figs and pomegranuates in 2-4 years and bananas in 3-5 years. Potted plants.  Click here - $20 off any order for $50 or more at Gurneys.com!  [House & Patio Plants!]
		Improved Meyer Lemon Dwarf Citrus Tree Springhill Nursery® A taste of the tropics! Dwarf citrus trees bear fragrant flowers followed by tasty fruit! The Improved Meyer Lemon has fruits year-around. (Move plants indoors for winter in Northern zones.) Shipped in 4" pot. Citrus lemon 'Improved Meyer' Zone 8 to 10  Click here - $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery!  [More Citrus Trees!] Click here - Meyer Lemon (Plant and Planter Kit) Kits includes one plant, 10” pot with saucer & soil.
		Navel Orange, Dwarf Citrus Tree Springhill Nursery® A taste of the tropics! Dwarf citrus trees bear fragrant flowers followed by tasty fruit! The Navel Orange has fruits year-around. (Move plants indoors for winter in Northern zones.) Shipped in 4" pot. Citrus sinensis 'Washington Navel' Zone 9 to 10  Click here - Free $20 off premium bulbs, plants and trees! Click here - Navel Orange (Plant and Planter Kit) Kits includes one plant, 10” pot with saucer & soil.
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