Good Citrus

Advertiser The pleasing appearance of citrus trees and the fruit was pointed out by many people ancient travelers, even though the fruit of citrus trees had not progressed to the point as an important food basic piece, the fragrance of all parts of the lemon or lime trees, including the flowers and fruit, were desirable perfumers of rooms and were thought to push away insects.

The occurrence of citrus in Europe and Mideast were thought to have been natural occurring native trees and bushes, but historians today assume that the ancestor of the citrus trees, Citrus medica L., was introduced by Alexander the Great from India into Greece, Turkey, and North Africa in the late 4th century BC. The most ancient citrus was called 'citron. '

There are old clues from wall art in the Egyptian temple at Karnak that citrus trees was growing there. There were other ideas that citrus trees may have been familiar to the Jews during their exile and slavery by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC. Even though speculations claim that citrus trees were known and grown by the Hebrews, there is no direct mention in the Scriptures of citrus.

The first recording of citrus, Citrus fruit medica L., in Western history was done by Theophrastus, in 350 BC, following the introduction of the fruit by Alexander the fantastic.

In early Western european history, writers wrote about Persian citrus, that it had a wonderful fragrance and was thought to be a treatment for poisoning, a breath sweetener, and a repellant to moths.

Citrus was well known by the old cultures of the Greeks and later the Romans. A beautiful ceramic ceramic tile was found in the ruins of Pompeii after the location was destroyed by a volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in ADVERTISEMENT 79. Another mosaic floor tile in the ruins of a Roman villa in Carthage, North Africa, in about the 2nd hundred years AD, evidently showed the fruit of any citron and a lemon fruit growing on a tree branch.

Early Christian tile mosaics dating back to 300 AD of both a melon and lemon were shown in lemon-yellow and lemon colors surrounded by brilliant green leaves and freshly cut tree branches; the relics can still be seen in Istanbul, Poultry at mosques that once were churches of Chief Constantine.

It is not known how, where, or when the exceptional present day varieties of lemon or lime trees developed, like the fairly sweet orange, lemon, kumquat, lime, grapefruit, or pummelo, but there appears to be a general consensus of opinions that all these citrus developments and enhancements were obtained by natural and artificial selection and natural evolution. It is well-known, that the Romans were familiar with the sour orange, Citrus aurantium L. and the lime tree, Citrus limon. Following the fall of Ancient rome to the barbarian invasions and the Muslims, the Arab states rapidly distribute the naturally increasing cultivars of citrus fruits and woods throughout much of Northern Africa, Spain, and Syria. The spread of bitter orange, Citrus aurantium T., and the lemon, Citrus fruit limon, extended the growing and planting of these trees on a worldwide scale by planting the seed, which produced citrus trees much like the parent trees. The Crusades cure of the Arabs later spread citrus planting and growing throughout Europe.

The sweet orange, Citrus sinensis, appeared late in the 1400's, near to the time of Christopher Columbus, who uncovered America. After trade paths were closed when the Turks defeated the Asian Roman Empire in 1453, centered in Constantinople (Istanbul), many European kings started to seek alternate, business, sea routes to available trade by ships with China and India. The particular sweet orange tree intro into Europe changed the dynamics of citrus fruit importance in the world. The voyage of Portuguese explorer, Vasco de Gamma, recorded that in 1498, there were multitudes of orange woods in India, and all the fruits had a fairly sweet taste. The new sweet orange variety, known as the "Portugal orange" caused a dramatic surge in citrus planting, much like the much later appearance of the "Washington navel orange" tree introduction into California.

The particular lime, Citrus latifolia, was initially mentioned in European history by Sir Thomas Herbert in his book, Moves, who recorded that he found growing "oranges, lemons, and limes" off the island of Mozambique in the mid 1600's. Lime green trees today can be found in many cultivars.

In 1707, Spanish language missions were growing oranges, fig trees, quinces, pomegranates, peaches, apricots, apples, pear trees, mulberries, pecans, and other trees according to horticultural documents.

source