Bitterroot Restoration

 

Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Aurantioideae
Tribe: Citreae

Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants, originating in tropical and subtropical southeast regions of the world. The most well known examples are the orange, the lemon, the grapefruit, and the lime. The Latin word citrus was borrowed from ancient Greek kedros "cedar, juniper" probably through Etruscan. The Romans applied the word to several different trees with fragrant foliage or wood. Natural and cultivated origin hybrids include commercially important fruit such as the oranges, grapefruit, lemons, some limes, and some tangerines.

These plants are large shrubs or small trees, reaching 5–15 m tall, with spiny shoots and alternately arranged evergreen leaves with an entire margin. Their flowers are solitary or in small corymbs, each flower 2–4 cm diameter, with five (rarely four) white petals and numerous stamens; they are often very strongly scented. Their fruit is a hesperidium, a specialised berry, globose to elongated, 4–30 cm long and 4–20 cm diameter, with a leathery rind surrounding segments or "liths" filled with pulp vesicles. The genus is commercially important as many species are cultivated for their fruit, which is eaten fresh, pressed for juice, or preserved in marmalades. This juice contains a high quantity of citric acid giving them their characteristic sharp flavour. They are also good sources of vitamin C and flavonoids.

You can easily grow a happy, healthy, and productive citrus tree indoors. When you provide these essential elements of success for indoor growing, you'll enjoy a fragrant, ornamental, and delicious houseplant unlike any other.