Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck

Spice Fruit In the University

Family: RUTACEAE

Genus: Citrus

Catalan common name: Taronger dolç.

Spanish common name: Naranjo. Naranjo de la China. Naranjo dulce.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Chinese-Japanese

Uses and properties: Edible or foodstuffs. Furniture, construction and tools. Medicinal.

Life-forms: Macrophanerophyte.

Habitats: Cultivated species. Garden plants. Cultivated specie.

Description: A small evergreen tree, it has a more or less thorny rounded crown. The leaves are broadly elliptic, 7-10cm, and the wing of the petiole is moderately broad, which is what distinguishes it from Citrus aurantium as well as the fruit which has a thinner, less bright, yellowy-orange peel than Citrus aurantium; and because of the wing of the leaf peduncle which is longer and loses the heart shape Citrus aurantium has, but above all for the fruits which are either sweet or sour, but not bitter.

Observations: It is often considered a variant of Citrus aurantium.