Citrus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, 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.
A clementine is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange and a sweet orange, named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who first discovered and propagated the cultivar in Algeria. The exterior is a deep orange colour with a smooth, glossy appearance. Clementines can be separated into 7 to 14 segments. Similar to tangerines, they tend to be easy to peel. They are typically juicy and sweet, with less acid than oranges. Their oils, like other citrus fruits, contain mostly limonene as well as myrcene, linalool, α-pinene and many complex aromatics.
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-coloured citrus fruit consisting of hybrids of mandarin orange with some pomelo contribution.
The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color, that is considered either a variety of Citrus reticulata, the mandarin orange, or a closely related species, under the name Citrus tangerina, or yet as a hybrid of mandarin orange varieties, with some pomelo contribution.
The tangelo, Citrus × tangelo, is a citrus fruit hybrid of a Citrus reticulata variety, such as mandarin orange or tangerine, and a Citrus maxima variety, such as a pomelo or grapefruit. The name is a portmanteau of 'tangerine' and 'pomelo'.
The pomelo, from the family Rutaceae, is the largest citrus fruit, and the principal ancestor of the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid, citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefruit, the pomelo is commonly consumed and used for festive occasions throughout Southeast Asia and East Asia. As with the grapefruit, phytochemicals in the pomelo have the potential for drug interactions.
Citrus unshiu is a semi-seedless and easy-peeling citrus species, also known as miyagawa mandarin,unshu mikan, cold hardy mandarin, satsuma mandarin, satsuma orange, naartjie, and tangerine. During the Edo period of Japan, kishu mikan was the most popular because there was a popular superstition that eating Citrus unshiu (Satsuma) without seeds made people more prone to infertility. Citrus unshiu became popular in Japan after modernization started in the Meiji period. It was introduced to the West from the Satsuma region of Japan in 1878.
Ponkan ; Citrus poonensis; "Chinese Honey Orange") is a high-yield sweet Citrus cultivar with large fruits in the size of an orange. It is a citrus hybrid, though it was once thought to be a pure mandarin.
An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae ; it primarily refers to Citrus × sinensis, which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related Citrus × aurantium, referred to as bitter orange.
The cam sành or King orange is a citrus hybrid originating in Vietnam.
Kiyomi is a Japanese citrus fruit that is a hybrid of a Miyagawa Wase mikan and an orange. The new breed was the first tangor created in Japan in 1949. It was named Kiyomi after the temple Seiken-ji (清見寺) and the lagoon Kiyomi-gata (清見潟) near its experiment station in Shizuoka city and registered as "Tangor Nōrin No.1" in 1979.
Setoka is a seedless and highly sweet Japanese citrus fruit that is a tangor, a hybrid of the Murcott tangor with "Kuchinotsu No.37", which in turn is a hybrid of the Kiyomi tangor and a King tangor/Willowleaf mandarin cross, "Encore No. 2". It was registered as "Tangor Nōrin No.8" in 1998 and as "Variety registration No.9398" under the Plant Variety Protection and Seed Act in 2001. It weighs 200–280 g (7.1–9.9 oz) and has an oblate shape. The rind is thin and easily peelable. Its flavor is pleasant, aromatic, and similar to the Murcott. The fruit ripens in February. Its sugar level is very high at 12–13 °Bx whereas its citric acid is low (0.8–1.0%).
Reikou is a cultivar of tangor. It is a citrus hybrid of a hybrid of Kiyomi and Encore and Murcott tangor.
Pixie mandarin, also called Pixie tangerine, is a variety of mandarin that is late ripening and seedless.
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.
Citrus × deliciosa is a citrus hybrid mandarin orange with just under 6 % pomelo ancestry. It is related to the ponkan.
The Murcott is a tangor, or mandarin–sweet orange hybrid.
The Dancy tangerine is one of the oldest and formerly most popular American citrus varieties, but is now rarely sold.
'Encore' mandarin is a citrus cultivar.
Tsunonozomi is a tangor cultivar grown in Japan.
