Orange

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Citrus
Species: C. sinensis

The orange tree is a small tree which has a smooth greyishbrown bark and branches that extend into a fairly regular hemisphere. The leaves of the orange fruit are evergreen in color, oval in shape and 3 to 4 inches long. The leaves are dark green in color and glossy on the upper side. The calyx is cup shaped which are five in number with thick and fleshy petals which are intensely white and curl back.

The orange fruit is usually earth shaped i.e. round in shape with a little rougher skin and dark in color when compared to the sweet orange. The flowers of the orange fruit have a very strong aroma and the glands in the rind are concave instead of being convex.

All citrus trees are inter breedable i.e. there is only one super species which are the limes, lemons and the oranges. But various names have been given the citrus family such as oranges are known as “ Citrus sinensis” and “ Citrus aurantium” respectively. All the citrus fruits are considered as berries because they have many seeds which are fleshy, soft and which grow from a single ovary. The seed of the orange is often known as Pip.

The Persian oranges which were widely grown in southern Europe and which were introduced on the 11 th century were bitter. Later during the 15 th century sweet oranges were introduced in Europe to replace the bitter oranges. These sweet oranges were bought from India by the Portuguese traders. The size and the color of the orange fruit completely depend upon the climatic conditions. Usually the oranges have ten carpels or segments inside.