Orange

Orange (from the Sanskrit nagrungo, through the Arabic naranj, and the Italian arancia) is the Provencal name of Citrus Anrantium and some allied species, small evergreen trees belonging to the chief genus of the order Aurantiaceas. The orange is probably a native of southern China and Burma, but, grows wild and spinous in Indian jungles. It seems to have been dispersed by the Arabs and Crusaders, and is now grown in all warm regions well supplied with water and free from frost. The scattered glossy .leaves are remarkable for their double articulation, having one joint at each end of the winged leaf-stalk. The fragrant white or pinkish flowers have five sepals, five petals, branched (polyadelphous) stamens, and a variable number of carpels. These last are united in the characteristic but variable fruit technically known as a Hesperidium, which is superior, has a leathery separable epicarp, a woolly mesocarp, and a membranous endocarp. The pulp is an outgrowth from the latter of large spindle-shaped cells filled with watery juice. The seeds often contain more than one embryo. As the fruit takes some months to ripen, it occurs on the tree at the same time as the next year's blossoms. There are two chief varieties or sub-species, the sweet or China orange, and the bitter, bigarade or Seville orange, but the Mandarin and Tangerine oranges are sometimes ranked as a distinct species.