Tree of the week

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Good morning. We’ve been arguing about L.A. on this site this week -- whether the quality of life here is worth the price we pay to live here. Here’s some quality: the region’s stunning and seemingly boundless variety of trees. Pieter Severynen’s tree of the week:

The Orange Tree – Citrus sinensis

‘Oranges originated some 4,000 years ago in southeast Asia; their name derives from the Sanskrit ‘narangh.’ Alexander the Great brought the bitter or sour orange, Citrus aurantium, to Greece and the Moors cultivated it in Spain. When Columbus returned from his voyage to the new world he convinced the Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella that there was money to be made in the Indies: for his second trip in 1493 he acquired orange seeds and sugar cane cuttings in the Canary island of Gomera to establish commercial plantations. The first one was set up in Hispaniola; oranges later spread on the mainland from St. Augustine, Fla. But around that time European sailors brought the sweet orange from China to Portugal.

‘That fruit caused an immediate sensation: not only did it have the scurvy fighting qualities of the bitter Seville orange, but it also possessed a delicious taste. The new fruit tree quickly spread in the Americas.

‘This evergreen compact tree is beautiful year round, in bloom or fruit or without. Dozens of varieties reflect its long history. Note that mandarin oranges and tangelos are grouped in the Citrus reticulata species. If you want to buy an orange tree consult a good reference source, such as the Sunset Western Garden Book. Valencia oranges need less heat and can stand more frost than navels, while blood oranges vary.

‘The rootstock (almost all Citrus trees are sold grafted) determines if the tree will be a globe shaped 30’ x 30’standard or a 10’ x 10’ or smaller dwarf and makes the tree bear fruit when young. Fruit may hang on the tree for a long time before it is fully ripe. Production is heaviest on the lowest branches. Cool nights cause the orange color and increase acid content. Harvest period depends on variety. The small white flowers in spring are freshly fragrant, the elliptical leaves, typically 6” x 3” but up to 9” long, are shiny dark green. The thin brown bark burns easily when exposed to sun. The tree needs good drainage and performs best when it is irrigated deeply, fertilized several times a year and has its soil covered with a thick layer of mulch. Given good care the tree can live and produce for well over half a century.’

Thanks, Pieter.
Photo Credit: From Wikimedia by Wilbanks, licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution license. Original at: www.flickr.com/photos/wilbanks/100480646/
Email Pieter: plseve@earthlink.net