Micrantha | |
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Species: | C. hystrix |
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Citrus hystrix | |
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The micrantha is a wild citrus from the papeda group, native to southern Philippines, particularly islands of Cebu and Bohol. Two varieties are recognized: small-flowered papeda (C. hystrix var. micrantha), locally known as biasong, and small-fruited papeda (C. hystrix var. microcarpa) or samuyao. [3] [4]
Long[ who? ] viewed as a separate species, C. micrantha, it is now generally viewed to fall within Citrus hystrix , but genomic data on the latter is insufficient for a definitive conclusion. [5] A micrantha was one of the progenitor species of some varieties of lime. [6]
The micrantha was first described to Western science in 1915 by Peter Jansen Wester, who worked for the Philippine Bureau of Agriculture at the time.
Wester collected ripe fruit specimens of biasong (small-flowered papeda, Citrus hystrix var. micrantha) on islands of Cebu, Bohol, Dumaguete, Negros, and in the Zamboanga and Misamis provinces in Mindanao. The fruits were collected throughout the year, indicating that the plant is ever-bearing. Biasong is characterized by small flowers (thus the "small-flowered" moniker) with fewer stamens than other papedas and oblong-obovate, few-loculed fruits. Though the fruit is not eaten and with little economic importance, its juice is used as a souring agent for kinilaw, or for hair-washing. [3]
Biasong's aroma is similar to that of the samuyao variety of micrantha. The tree reaches 7.5 to 9 metres (25 to 30 ft) in height. Leaves are 9–12 cm (3.5–4.7 in) long, 2.7–4.0 cm (1.1–1.6 in) wide, broadly elliptical to ovate, crenate, thin, with base rounded or broadly acute; apex acutely blunt pointed. Petioles are 3.5–6 cm (1.4–2.4 in) long, broadly winged, up to 4 cm (1.6 in) wide, with wings (phyllodes) sometimes larger than the leaf. Flowers are small, four-petaled, white with a thin purple edge, 12–13 mm (0.47–0.51 in) in diameter, forming cymes of two to five. There are 15 to 17 equal stamens. The ovary is obovoid, with 6 to 8 slender, distinct locules. Fruits are obovate to oblong-obovate, 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) long, with diameter of 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in), averaging 26 g (0.92 oz) in weight; their skin is rather thick, lemon-yellow, fairly smooth or with transverse corrugations; the pulp is juicy, grayish and acid, while juice cells are short and blunt to long, long, slender and pointed, sometimes containing a minute, greenish nucleus. They have numerous flat, pointed, reticulate seeds. [3]
Wester collected ripe samuyao (small-fruited papeda, Citrus hystrix var. microcarpa) fruit specimens from cultivation in Cebu and Bohol in June, and from November to February. Samuyao is rather smaller than biasong, with trees attaining 4.5 meters. It has small, thin leaves and flowers comparable in size to biasong. The fruit, 15–20 mm in diameter, is likely to be the smallest in the whole genus. [8] Wester also recorded a somewhat more vigorous variety, called "samuyao-sa-amoo" in Bohol, with slightly larger fruits; there is a possibility that this species was actually Limonellus aurarius, described by Georg Eberhard Rumphius back in 1741 in a nearby area, although his description also fits a number of related species. [8] Wester gave the botanical description: [3]
A shrubby tree, 4.5 meters tall, with slender branches and small, weak spines; leaves 55 to 80 millimeters long, 20 to 25 millimeters broad, ovate to ovate-oblong or elliptical, crenulate, thin, of distinct fragrance, base rounded to broadly acute; apex obtuse, sometimes notched, petioles 20 to 30 millimeters long, broadly winged, about 14 millimeters wide, wing area somewhat less than one-half of the leaf blade; flowers in compact axillary or terminal cymes, 2 to 7, small, 5 to 9 millimeters in diameter, white, with trace of purple on the outside; calyx small, not cupped, petals 3 to 5; stamens 15 to 18, free, equal; ovary very small, globose to obovate; locules 7 to 9, style distinct; stigma small, knob like; fruit 15 to 20 millimeters in diameter, roundish in outline; base sometimes nippled; apex an irregular, wrinkly cavity; surface corrugate, greenish lemon yellow; oil cells usually sunken; skin very thin; pulp fairly juicy, acid, bitter with distinct aroma; juice cells very minute, blunt, containing a small, greenish nucleus; seeds small, flattened, sometimes beaked.
Clear, intensely fragrant oil can be produced from the samuyao peel, and it has been used as a hair fragrance by women who live where it grows. [8]
The micrantha contains a significant amount of bergapten, a linear furanocoumarin well known for its phototoxic effects. [9] Of 61 Citrus varieties tested, C. micrantha had the highest concentration of bergapten of any Citrus species. [10] In particular, C. micrantha contained almost twice as much bergapten as the bergamot orange whose essential oil is highly phototoxic. Indiscriminate use of bergamot essential oil has led to several cases of phytophotodermatitis, [11] [12] a potentially severe skin inflammation. In these cases, the primary causal agent is believed to be bergapten.
The Key lime (Citrus aurantifolia) is a hybrid of the micrantha and the citron. It, in turn, has been crossed with a lemon to produce the Persian lime (C. latifolia). There are lumias that are distinct micrantha/citron hybrids, such as the Pomme d'Adam, while other lumias, like the Borneo lemons, are micrantha/citron/pomelo tri-species hybrids. [13] An Indonesian hybrid, the nansaran (C. amblycarpa), is a C. hystrix/C. reticulata cross. [13]
Citrus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus Citrus is native to South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and Australia. Various citrus species have been used and domesticated by indigenous cultures in these areas since ancient times. From there its cultivation spread into Micronesia and Polynesia by the Austronesian expansion ; and to the Middle East and the Mediterranean via the incense trade route, and onwards to Europe and the Americas.
The mandarin orange, also known as mandarin or mandarine, is a small, rounded citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of orange-colored citrus fruit consisting of hybrids of mandarin orange with some pomelo contribution.
Citrus hystrix, called the kaffir lime, Thai lime or makrut lime, is a citrus fruit native to tropical Southeast Asia.
Citrus cavaleriei, the Ichang papeda, is a slow-growing species of papeda that has characteristic lemon-scented foliage and flowers.
A lime is a citrus fruit, which is typically round, green in color, 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in) in diameter, and contains acidic juice vesicles.
The citron, historically cedrate, is a large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick rind. It is said to resemble a 'huge, rough lemon'. It is one of the original citrus fruits from which all other citrus types developed through natural hybrid speciation or artificial hybridization. Though citron cultivars take on a wide variety of physical forms, they are all closely related genetically. It is used in Asian and Mediterranean cuisine, traditional medicines, perfume, and religious rituals and offerings. Hybrids of citrons with other citrus are commercially more prominent, notably lemons and many limes.
Citrus limetta, alternatively considered to be a cultivar of Citrus limon, C. limon 'Limetta', is a species of citrus, commonly known as mousami, musami, sweet lime, sweet lemon, and sweet limetta, it is a member of the sweet lemons. It is small and round like a common lime in shape. It is a cross between the citron and a bitter orange.
Citrus bergamia, the bergamot orange, is a fragrant citrus fruit the size of an orange, with a yellow or green colour similar to a lime, depending on ripeness.
The Key lime or acid lime is a citrus hybrid native to tropical Southeast Asia. It has a spherical fruit, 2.5–5 centimetres in diameter. The Key lime is usually picked while it is still green, but it becomes yellow when ripe.
Sweet lemon and sweet lime refer to groups of citrus hybrids that contain low acid pulp and juice. They are hybrids often similar to non-sweet lemons or limes, but with less citron parentage. Sweet limes and lemons are not sharply separated:
The sweet lime, Citrus limettioides Tan., is often confused with the sweet lemon, C. limetta Tan., which, in certain areas, is referred to as "sweet lime". In some of the literature, it is impossible to tell which fruit is under discussion.
The ponderosa lemon is a citrus hybrid of a pomelo and a citron. It is not the same as the 'Yuma Ponderosa' lemon-pomelo hybrid used as citrus rootstock.
Papeda or papaeda is the common name for a group of Citrus species and varieties native to tropical Asia that are hardy and slow-growing, and produce unpalatable fruit. Walter Tennyson Swingle segregated these species into a separate subgenus, Papeda, that included the Ichang lemon, yuzu, kaffir lime, kabosu, sudachi, and a number of wild and uncultivated species and hybrids. Recent genetic analysis shows the papedas to be distributed among distinct branches of the Citrus phylogenetic tree, and hence Swingle's proposed subgenus is polyphyletic and not a valid taxonomic grouping, but the term persists as a common name.
Citrus halimii, or mountain citron, is a citrus with sour fruit. Historically placed within the polyphyletic grouping of papedas, it has since been determined to be a wild species most closely related to the kumquats, and is not related to the true citron. It was first discovered and catalogued in 1973.
Clymenia is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae with two species. The genus is often included in Citrus.
Citrus macrophylla, also known as alemow, is a citrus tree and fruit, belonging to the papedas.
Citrus indica is a species of hybrid Citrus known by the common name Indian wild orange.
The lumia is also called the pear lemon, since its shape resembles a pear. It is also called French lime and sometimes sweet lemon, even though it is not necessarily sweet.
Citrus taxonomy refers to the botanical classification of the species, varieties, cultivars, and graft hybrids within the genus Citrus and related genera, found in cultivation and in the wild.
Kalpi is a natural citrus hybrid native to Philippines and is today one of the most common lemons in Hawaii, and is sometimes called 'Malayan lemon'.
Pompia, also called pumpia, sa pompia, spompia, and China citron, is a Citrus hybrid cultivated for its edible fruit. It is a taxonomical synonym of Citrus medica.