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An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to Citrus × sinensis,[1] which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related Citrus × aurantium, referred to as bitter orange. The sweet orange reproduces asexually (apomixis through nucellar embryony); varieties of the sweet orange arise through mutations.

The orange is a hybrid between pomelo (Citrus maxima) and mandarin (Citrus reticulata). The chloroplast genome, and therefore the maternal line, is that of pomelo. The sweet orange has had its full genome sequenced.

The orange originated in a region encompassing Southern China, Northeast India, and Myanmar, and the earliest mention of the sweet orange was in Chinese literature in 314 BC. As of 1987, orange trees were found to be the most cultivated fruit tree in the world. Orange trees are widely grown in tropical and subtropical climates for their sweet fruit. The fruit of the orange tree can be eaten fresh, or processed for its juice or fragrant peel. As of 2012, sweet oranges accounted for approximately 70% of citrus production.

In 2019, 79 million tonnes of oranges were grown worldwide, with Brazil producing 22% of the total, followed by China and India.

History

The sweet orange is not a wild fruit, having arisen in domestication from a cross between a non-pure mandarin orange and a hybrid pomelo that had a substantial mandarin component. Since its chloroplast DNA is that of pomelo, it was likely the hybrid pomelo, perhaps a BC1 pomelo backcross, that was the maternal parent of the first orange. Based on genomic analysis, the relative proportions of the ancestral species in the sweet orange are approximately 42% pomelo and 58% mandarin. All varieties of the sweet orange descend from this prototype cross, differing only by mutations selected for during agricultural propagation. Sweet oranges have a distinct origin from the bitter orange, which arose independently, perhaps in the wild, from a cross between pure mandarin and pomelo parents. The earliest mention of the sweet orange in Chinese literature dates from 314 BC.

In Europe, the Moors introduced the orange to the Iberian Peninsula, which was known as Al-Andalus, with large-scale cultivation starting in the 10th century, as evidenced by complex irrigation techniques specifically adapted to support orange orchards. Citrus fruits—among them the bitter orange—were introduced to Sicily in the 9th century during the period of the Emirate of Sicily, but the sweet orange was unknown until the late 15th century or the beginnings of the 16th century, when Italian and Portuguese merchants brought orange trees into the Mediterranean area. Shortly afterward, the sweet orange quickly was adopted as an edible fruit. It was considered a luxury food grown by wealthy people in private conservatories, called orangeries. By 1646, the sweet orange was well known throughout Europe. Louis XIV of France had a great love of orange trees and built the grandest of all royal Orangeries at the Palace of Versailles. At Versailles, potted orange trees in solid silver tubs were placed throughout the rooms of the palace, while the Orangerie allowed year-round cultivation of the fruit to supply the court. When Louis condemned his finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, in 1664, part of the treasures that he confiscated were over 1,000 orange trees from Fouquet's estate at Vaux-le-Vicomte.

Spanish travelers introduced the sweet orange to the American continent. On his second voyage in 1493, Christopher Columbus may have planted the fruit on Hispaniola. Subsequent expeditions in the mid-1500s brought sweet oranges to South America and Mexico, and to Florida in 1565, when Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St Augustine. Spanish missionaries brought orange trees to Arizona between 1707 and 1710, while the Franciscans did the same in San Diego, California, in 1769. An orchard was planted at the San Gabriel Mission around 1804, and a commercial orchard was established in 1841 near present-day Los Angeles. In Louisiana, oranges were probably introduced by French explorers.

Archibald Menzies, the botanist and naturalist on the Vancouver Expedition, collected orange seeds in South Africa, raised the seedlings onboard, and gave them to several Hawaiian chiefs in 1792. Eventually, the sweet orange was grown in wide areas of the Hawaiian Islands, but its cultivation stopped after the arrival of the Mediterranean fruit fly in the early 1900s.

As oranges are rich in vitamin C and do not spoil easily, during the Age of Discovery, Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch sailors planted citrus trees along trade routes to prevent scurvy.

Florida farmers obtained seeds from New Orleans around 1872, after which orange groves were established by grafting the sweet orange on to sour orange rootstocks.

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[-] President_Obama@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago
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[-] Stoatmilk@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

I did a quest in Baldur's Gate 3 where you get your portrait painted at the end. The painter tells me I am dressed weirdly and covered in blood, which is a fair complaint. So I put on nicer clothes and take a shower (throw a bottle of water at myself). He paints me, and one of my party members says "wow that really looks like you." So I throw the painting on the floor to look at it, and it's just the default picture of Karlach.

[-] PaX@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

I had a dream... that I met a friendly, talking wolf in a forest. I saved him from being killed when they came to clear-cut the forest and took him home with me. We were well on the way to becoming great friends when I woke up.

I am so lonely lol

[-] WhyEssEff@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

today I’m gonna eat a whole bag of Jewel Signature Select Chocolate Chip Cookies emilie->=3

[-] Darthsenio_Mall@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

i'm gonna eat a chocolate chip juul pod

[-] grazing7264@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Why is vegan ice cream so expensive?

porky-scared-flipped stalin-gun-1 stalin-gun-2

My yogurt gone, discontinued

meow-tableflip

[-] DoghouseCharlie@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

I've just been making my own with oatmilk. I like to add these fancy dark chocolate peanut cups in and blend it together.

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[-] commiespammer@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

"The truth is that I’m a centrist of sorts

I’m a communo-normie, in internet words.

Just an overton window shifted much to the left"

From my WIP song/poem, "Communo-Normie🎵"

[-] PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Astrophotography went poorly. I didn't get anything good. Got to show Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, the Sun, and a very dewey smudge of the Hercules cluster to the cousins and in-laws though.

The dew was really bad. Got into everything. On top of that, I had some mechanical failures on the mount which I had to create improvised solutions for (which I did manage). Finally, the battery on my red dot died and let me tell you, finding things through an f/15 lens is like searching for hay in a needle stack. I am left longing for equipment I cannot afford. I suppose I am going to disassemble to goto mount and give it its first tune-up in like 20 years instead. I also should get a longer T-adapter for my camera.

[-] SoylentSnake@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

Is there gonna be a new Death Grips or do ya'll think they're just touring for fun and for $$$?

[-] Cigarette_comedian@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

I have now gotten influenza kermit-pain I cannot keep any food down, and that's if I even felt the want to eat in the first place. I am so tired, so very very tired.

[-] mkultrawide@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

Just found out I got passed over for promotion again in favor of someone else less qualified (after I was told they couldn't promote anyone because of revenue issues just a month ago) and I think I am about to rage quit my job. I bring in $100K/month in revenue for my company specifically because my customers like me, as in I have three customers who have flat out told my bosses that they would have fired us if not for me.

[-] asa_red_heathen@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

I saw a banana slug on my road trip today

[-] Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

Hey did you know that Donald Trump uses a fake tan that makes him look orange? I don't know why no one mentions it

[-] autismdragon@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

Oh fuck. I got up early to take my 20 mg of vynase on time and then went back to bed. And then now when I was taking my usual morning meds (in the afternoon) I thoughjt I hadnt already taken it and took another one fuck fuck fuck.

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[-] Pluto@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago
[-] DoghouseCharlie@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

Nyeheheheheh, hey, Lois, remember that time I created a precise model of this grotesque world?

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[-] Parzivus@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

My computer cannot handle act 3 of Baldur's Gate 3 at all but I'm in too deep to quit deeper-sadness
It just feels dumb to spend hundreds of dollars to upgrade when 90% of the games I enjoy would run on a decade old laptop, ignoring the fact that I don't have the money in the first place

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this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
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