Taxon:  Citrus ×aurantium L. (Citrus Sour Orange Group)



Summary
Genus:
Citrus
Family:
Rutaceae
Subfamily:
Aurantioideae
Tribe:
Aurantieae
Subtribe:
Citrinae
Nomen number:
10684
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 2:782.  1753, pro sp.
Comment:
[Citrus reticulata × C. maxima]
Verified:
11/13/2017 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
0 (0  active, 0  available) in Nordic Baltic Genebanks. 
Other conspecific taxa
Reference(s)
  1. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. 1976-. Flora of Libya.
  2. Bayer, R. J. et al. 2009. A molecular phylogeny of the orange subfamily (Rutaceae: Aurantioideae) using nine cpDNA sequences. Amer. J. Bot. 96:668-685. Note: = Citrus × aurantium
  3. Bhusal, R. C. et al. 2002. Selection of rootstocks for flooding and drought tolerance in citrus species. Pakistan J. Biol. Sci. 5:509-512. Note: this study examined 23 species, including a sample of Citrus aurantium that showed drought tolerance
  4. Bisset, N. G., ed. 1994. Herbal drugs and phytopharmaceuticals. A handbook for practice on a scientific basis CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. Note: translation of German edition by M. Wichtl, ed.
  5. Carbonell-Caballero, J. et al. 2015. A phylogenetic analysis of 34 chloroplast genomes elucidates the relationships between wild and domesticated species within the genus Citrus. Molec. Biol. Evol. 32:2015-2035.
  6. Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
  7. Citrus Crop Germplasm Committee. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. common names
  8. Conrad, L. R. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. German common names
  9. Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
  10. Curk, F. et al. 2016. Phylogenetic origin of limes and lemons revealed by cytoplasmic and nuclear markers. Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 117: 565–583.
  11. Davis, P. H., ed. 1965-1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
  12. Elevitch, C. R., ed. The traditional tree initiative: species profiles for Pacific Island agroforestry (on-line resource). Note:
    • Permanent Agriculture Resources (PAR), Holualoa, Hawai'i
    • http://www.traditionaltree.org/
  13. Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage
  14. Facciola, S. 1990. Cornucopia, a source book of edible plants Kampong Publications.
  15. Fatta del Bosco, S. et al. 2017. Somatic cybridization for Citrus: polyphenols distribution in juices and peel essential oil composition of a diploid cybrid from Cleopatra mandarin (Citrus reshni Hort. ex Tan.) and sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.). Genet. Resources Crop Evol. 64:261-275.
  16. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  17. Forest Experimental Station, Korea. 1966. Illustrated woody plants of Korea.
  18. Garcia-Lor, A. et al. 2013. A nuclear phylogenetic analysis: SNPs, indels and SSRs deliver new insights into the relationships in the 'true citrus fruit trees' group (Citrinae, Rutaceae) and the origin of cultivated species. Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 111:1-19.
  19. Ghorbel, R. et al. 2000. High efficiency genetic transformation of sour orange (Citrus aurantium) and production of transgenic trees containing the coat protein gene of citrus tristeza virus. Tree Physiol. 20:1183-1189. Note: the decline on the usage of Citrus aurantium as graft stock is due to its susceptibility to the Tristeza virus; this study tested in the lab and greenhouse the use of transformation and regeneration of transgenic sour orange seedlings, using Agrobacterium as a vector to introduce CTV CP gene that expresses resistance; age and source of the plant material "were critical for the improvement of sour orange transformation", being the 2-week old seedlings more successful
  20. Gmitter, F. G. et al. 2007. Citrus fruits. Genome mapping and molecular breeding in plants (7 vols.) Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. 14:265-279.
  21. Gmitter, F. G. et al. 2009. Citrus breeding. Breeding plantation tree crops: temperate species 105-134.
  22. Hackett, C. & J. Carolane. 1982. Edible Horticultural Crops Academic Press.
  23. Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
  24. Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
  25. Jena, S. N. et al. 2009. Molecular phylogeny in Indian Citrus L. (Rutaceae) inferred through PCR-RFLP and trnL-trnF sequence data of chloroplast DNA. Sci. Hort. 119:403-416.
  26. Krueger, R. R. & M. L. Roose. 2003. Use of molecular markers in the management of Citrus germplasm resources. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 128:827-837. Note: this study tested the use of molecular markers for the management of mixed collections of monoembryonic and polyembryonic seed; three samples of Citrus aurantium were polyembryonic
  27. Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
  28. Li, X. et al. 2010. The origin of cultivated Citrus as inferred from Internal Transcribed Spacer and chloroplast DNA sequence and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism fingerprints. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 135:341-350. Note: this study included two samples of Citrus aurantium resolved together (AFLP) or apart (nuclear and cpDNA) within a clade including pummelo C. maxima and mandarin C. reticulata
  29. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
  30. Lombardo, G. et al. 2012. Genetic analysis of Citrus aurantium L. (Rutaceae) cultivars by ISSR molecular markers. Pl. Biosyst. 146(supl. 1):19-26.
  31. Long, R. W. & O. Lakela. 1971. A flora of tropical Florida.
  32. Luro, F. et al. 2011. Analysis of genetic diversity in Citrus. Pl. Genet. Resources Charact. Util. 9:218-221. Note: this study based on primary metabolites and "nine genes involved in primary metabolic pathways" examined nine samples of Citrus aurantium; it found that their analysis did not support the "mandarin × pummelo cross", although it clustered closer to sweet orange (but see page220 for a different interpretation), a subclade sister to pummelo
  33. Mabberley, D. J. 1997. A classification for edible Citrus. Telopea 7:170. Note: = Citrus × aurantium
  34. Macbride, J. F. et al., eds. 1936-. Flora of Peru Note: 1936-1971; new ser. 1980-
  35. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
  36. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
  37. Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:91.
  38. Nicolosi, E. et al. 2000. Citrus phylogeny and genetic origin of important species as investigated by molecular markers. Theor. Appl. Genet. 100:1155-1166.
  39. Nicolosi, E. 2007. Chapter 3. Origin and taxonomy. Citrus genetics, breeding and biotechnology. CABI 19-43.
  40. Ollitrault, P. et al. 2012. SNP mining in C. clementina BAC end sequences; transferability in the Citrus genus (Rutaceae), phylogenetic inferences and perspectives for genetic mapping. B. M. C. Genomics 13:13. Note: this study examined the usefulness of SNP markers derived from Citrus clementina for understanding the "origin of some secondary species and important cultivars"; it confirmed the hybrid origin of C. aurantium, with its genome derived mostly from C. reticulata
  41. Oyen, L. P. A. & Nguyen Xuan Dung, eds. 1999. Essential-oil plants. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 19:78-82.
  42. Penjor, T. et al. 2013. Phylogenetic relationships of Citrus and its relatives based on matK gene sequences. PLoS One 8(4): e62574. Note: this study included one sample of Citrus aurantium that clustered within the pummelo clade
  43. Personal Care Products Council. INCI
  44. Polat, I. et al. 2012. Molecular characterization of sour orange (Citrus aurantium) accessions and their relatives using SSR and SRAP markers. Genet. Molec. Res. 11:3267-3276.
  45. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  46. Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics
  47. Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
  48. Smith, A. C. 1979-1991. Flora vitiensis nova.
  49. Snoussi, H. et al. 2012. Assessment of the genetic diversity of the Tunisian citrus rootstock germplasm. B. M. C. Genet. 13:16.
  50. Swingle, W. T. & P. C. Reece. 1967. The botany of Citrus and its wild relatives.
  51. Tanaka, T. 1954. Species problem in Citrus: a critical study of wild and cultivated units of Citrus, based upon field studies in their native homes. Revisio Aurantiacearum. 9:123. Note: Maruzen Co. Ltd, Tokyo.
  52. Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. 1966-. Flora of Iraq.
  53. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
  54. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
  55. Uphof, J. C. T. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants, ed. 2.
  56. Walker, E. 1976. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands.
  57. Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
  58. Wu, G. A. et al. 2014. Sequencing of diverse mandarin, pummelo and orange genomes reveals complex history of admixture during citrus domestication. Nat. Biotechnol. 32:656-662.
  59. Wu, G. A. et al. 2018. Genomics of the origin and evolution of Citrus. Nature 554:311-316.
  60. Yildirim, B. et al. 2010. Fruit yield and quality of Santa Teresa lemon on seven rootstocks in Adana (Turkey). African J. Agric. Res. 5:1077-1081.
Common names
LANGUAGENAMEALTERNATE NAMENOTESEQCITATION
English bigarade 1 Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
English bitter orange 1 Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
English Seville orange 1 Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
English sour orange 1 Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
French bigaradier 2 Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French oranger amer 2 Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
German Bitterorangen 2 Conrad, L. R. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. German common names
German Pomeranze 2 Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
India khatta 2 Citrus Crop Germplasm Committee. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. common names
Israel khushkhash 2 Citrus Crop Germplasm Committee. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. common names
Italian arancio 2 Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Italian arancio amaro 2 Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
Italian melangolo 2 Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Japanese Rōmaji daidai 2 Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
Japanese Rōmaji kaisei-tō 2 Citrus Crop Germplasm Committee. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. common names
Japanese Rōmaji yama-mikan as Citrus intermedia 2 Tanaka, T. 1954. Species problem in Citrus: a critical study of wild and cultivated units of Citrus, based upon field studies in their native homes. Revisio Aurantiacearum. 9:120. Note: Maruzen Co. Ltd, Tokyo.
Portuguese laranja-azeda 2 Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish naranja agria 2 Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics
Spanish naranja amarga 2 Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish naranja mateca 2 Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Transcribed Chinese suan cheng 2 Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Transcribed Korean gwanggyulnamu 2 Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:91.
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
2Cultivated    widely cult. in tropics & subtropics
2CultivatedAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaJapan  
6Other    probable multiple hybrid origin China & elsewhere
Cultivated

  • REGION:
Asia-Temperate
  • EASTERN ASIA: Japan
Other (probable multiple hybrid origin China & elsewhere)
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Environmentalornamental Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Food additivesflavoring Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Food additivesflavoring Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics
Human foodbeverage base Uphof, J. C. T. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants, ed. 2.
Human foodfruitpeel for marmeladesRehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics
Materialsessential oilssource of neroli oil & petitgrainLeung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Materialslipidssource of neroli oil & petitgrainLeung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Medicinesfolklore Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: http://nordic-baltic-genebanks.org/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=10684. Accessed 16 May 2025.