Citrus fruits are tasty, refreshing, and provide a range of health benefits. Citrus is a fruit genus beloved worldwide for its vibrant colors and tangy flavors. Impress your friends with these four fascinating facts about tasty citrus fruits.
Citrus fruits have a rich history that dates back thousands of years. They are believed to have originated in Southeast Asia, particularly in modern-day China and northwestern India.
Over time, citrus spread to other parts of the world through trade routes. But as a reminder of this fruit’s origins, oranges are known as Chinese apples in many languages, including Dutch, Finnish, and Lithuanian.
One fascinating fact about citrus is that this tasty fruit kicked off a status-validating trend with elite northern Europeans. Oranges first arrived in large shipments in Europe in the 1600s, but the plants weren’t adapted to the climate. Because of this, wealthy northern Europeans created orangeries to provide the plants with a hospitable environment.
Orangeries were rooms in fashionable homes in Northern Europe from the 1600s to the 1800s. They became an elite status symbol, partially due to their lavish use of expensive glass. Over time, people came to regard orangeries as beautiful structures on garden grounds rather than exclusive buildings.
Comparing apples and oranges is easy, but comparing oranges, mandarins, and clementines is trickier. And lesser-known varieties, like yuzu, make it even more apparent that citrus isn’t just a huge deal—it’s also a huge genus.
The three ancestral species of almost all modern-day citruses are the mandarin orange, pomelo, and citron. Almost every common citrus fruit, including lemons, oranges, limes, and grapefruit, comes from one or a mix of these ancestral species.
The oldest living orange tree in the world is in California, and it’s named the Mother Orange Tree. The tree’s rootstock came from Mexico on a shipping vessel, and Judge Joseph Lewis bought the two-year-old tree in Sacramento in 1856. He planted the young tree in Sacramento.
In 1998, a series of frosts deeply damaged the Mother Orange Tree. The University of California, Riverside, cloned the tree so thankfully, the Mother Orange Tree is resilient and continues to produce fruit.
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