Citrus

Citrus

 Citrus was one of the first trees to travel from China and, via India and Africa, ended up in the Mediterranean basin. Oranges reached Italy by the end of the Roman Empire. By the end of the 6th and 7th centuries, Muslims were growing orange, tangerine and lemon trees in Andalusia, Cordova and in the Alhambra in Granada. and bitter oranges in the 10th century became identified as Seville oranges. They were taken to the New World to become the stocks onto which many other citrus fruits are grafted, especially in Florida. Later, bitter oranges were taken to California, where they were widely planted in the 1840s and led to tales as in the Grapes of Wrath.