THE JAPANESE CULTIVARS

Daidai — 橙

Japanese name: 橙 (Daidai / だいだい)

Taxonomic position: Citrus aurantium var. daidai (Makino) M. Hiroe; son. Citrus × daidai Siebold ex Hayata (1919)

Daidai is the Japanese cultivar of bitter orange introduced from China before the 8th century AD. The Japanese name 橙 is a homonym of the expression 代々 (daidai = „generations upon generations“), referring to the fruit’s ability to remain on the tree for several years without dropping. This property made the fruits a symbol of family continuity and prosperity. The Japanese word for the colour orange, 橙色 (daidai-iro), is derived directly from this cultivar (SANTEN Design, 2025).

Fruits are globose, diameter 5–8 cm; rind thick, granulate, bright orange; flesh strongly acid and bitter; 9–10 segments, numerous seeds. Tree vigorous, over 6 m tall, nearly thornless (Tanaka, 1946, entry no. 100).

Cultural and ceremonial use: During the Japanese New Year celebrations (shōgatsu), the daidai fruit is traditionally placed on top of kagami mochi, the ritual rice cake. The symbolism encompasses family prosperity and continuity across generations (SANTEN Design, 2025; Hanaki et al., 2022).

Culinary and medicinal use: The juice is used as an ingredient in ponzu (pronounced „pontsu“; traditional Japanese citrus sauce). Peel in kampō: dried peel of unripe fruits = 枝實 (kijitsu), dried peel of ripe fruits = 橙皮 (tōhi), both used as stomachics and expectorants.. (UCR CRC 0696, 2026).

Za-daidai — ザダイダイ

Japanese name: ザダイダイ  (Za-daidai)

Taxonomic position: Citrus aurantium var. Cyathifera Y.  Tanaka (1946); entry no. 92 in An Iconograph of Japanese Citrus Fruits

Tanaka (1946) describes Za-daidai as a bitter orange cultivar with a characteristic fleshy cup-shaped base of the fruit — hence the Latin epithet cyathifera (cup-bearing). Synonyms listed by Tanaka: Kaiseito (回青橙), Kinkyu (金橘), Yama-tachibana, Abe-tachibana Risso’s and Poiteau (1822) ) catalogued the corresponding type under the historical name C. bigaradia var. cyathifera — in modern authority POWO/Kew this taxon is however placed under the accepted name C. aurantium var. Cyathifera.

Key morphological distinction from C. rokugatsu: Za-daidai (entry no. 125 per Tanaka), occurring in C. rokugatsu conversely, bears a conspicuous areola at the fruit apex and lacks the winged petiole typical of the bigarade. The distinction was confirmed by Dr. Hideyasu Kinjo (Japan).

The confusion of Za-daidai with Citrus rokugatsu (entry no. 125 according to Tanaka), which occurs in the catalogs UCR (2024), is taxonomically incorrect. For details see the article Citrus rokugatsu.

MEDICI GARDENS AND PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL CULTIVARS

The Medici family played a key role in the importation, cultivation and preservation of historical citrus cultivars in Europe. The most prominent centre of this collecting activity was the Villa di Castello on the north-western outskirts of Florence, whose garden was established in 1538–1539 on the orders of Cosimo I de’ Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany (Arteleonardo.com, 2025).

The citrus trees were cultivated in containers in heavy terracotta pots made from Impruneta clay; every autumn they were transferred to covered winter shelters (limonaie) and in spring returned to the garden terraces. At the height of Medici collecting, this garden represented the largest and most diverse citrus collection in Europe. In 1715 Cosimo III commissioned the painter Bartolomeo Bimbi to document the entire collection on canvas — these paintings still serve today as a historical record of cultivar representation (Arteleonardo.com, 2025; Atlas Obscura, 2025).

Among cultivars with a demonstrable link to the Medici period are Bizzarria, Consolei/Canaliculata, Corniculata, Crispifolia and several cultivars of the Bouquetier group. After the extinction of the Medici dynasty (1737), the villa passed into the hands of the Habsburg-Lorraine; during the 20th century the collection came close to extinction. In 1980 garden curator Paolo Galeotti rediscovered the last surviving specimen of the ancient Bizzarria in a private Florentine garden and returned it to the collection of Villa di Castello. Today the collection numbers around 500 potted plants; the garden has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2013 (Atlas Obscura, 2025).

Seville orange

The term Seville orange (es. naranja amarga de Sevilla, en. Seville orange) is used in the English-language and Spanish-language literature to denote C. aurantium subsp. amara Link, i.e. the standard bitter orange in its typical European form. It was introduced to Andalusia by the Moors in the 10th century AD. (Hodgson, 1967). Today Seville oranges are harvested annually from the street trees of Seville and exported to Great Britain for the production of traditional English marmalade. Morton (1987) notes that, despite its international renown as a marmalade ingredient, the fruit is rarely consumed locally by the inhabitants of Andalusia.

Consolei (Canaliculata) — Grooved bitter orange

Synonyms: Consolei, Canaliculata, Incanelati, Striatum, arancio amaro scannellato (it.), bigaradier à fruit strié (fr.)

Taxonomic position: Citrus aurantium ‘Consolei’ Hort.; cultivar name of Italian horticultural origin; first reliable documentation: Bartolomeo Bimbi, Arancio scannellato, cultivar 11, Tab. III (c. 1715–20, Villa di Castello, Florence)

Consolei is one of the oldest documented European bitter orange cultivars, grown in Tuscany since the 16th century and recorded in the Medici gardens. The cultivar is characterised by conspicuous longitudinal grooves (channels) running parallel from the base to the apex of the fruit — hence the Italian name scannellato (grooved) and the Latin epithet canaliculata (channelled). Tree compact, thornless; flowers large, white, fragrant, diameter 3–3.5 cm. Fruits small to medium, diameter 3–5 cm; rind orange, firm. The cultivar has been continuously present in Italian and French botanical collections since the 16th century (Bimbi, c. 1715-20 ; Lenzi, 2021b).

Virgatum (Fasciata) — Striped bitter oragne

Synonyms: Virgatum, Fasciata; bigaradier à fruits rayés (fr.), arancio amaro a striscie (it.)

Taxonomic position: Citrus aurantium ‘Virgatum’ Hort.; Risso’s & Poiteau (1822) as a C. bigaradia var. fasciata (p. 101); POWO/Kew

Virgatum is a cultivar with conspicuous coloured stripes on the fruit rind — orange stripes on a dark-green background, which change during ripening. The striping results from unstable chlorophyll expression in the carpel peel during maturation Risso’s and Poiteau (1822) catalogued it under the historical name C. bigaradia var. fasciata. The tree is grown primarily as an ornamental cultivar; the fruits are visually decorative, with flavour corresponding to the standard bitter orange. Variants with striped leaves are designated C. aurantium ‘Variegatum’.

Corniculata — Horned bitter orange

Synonyms: Corniculata, Cornicula; arancio amaro cornuto (it.), bigaradier cornu (fr.)

Taxonomic position: Citrus aurantium ‘Corniculata’ Hort.; Risso’s & Poiteau (1822) as a C. bigaradia var. corniculata (p. 76); POWO/Kew

Corniculata is a cultivar with fruits bearing horn-like protuberances — irregular horn-shaped prominences growing from the flavedo; at full maturity the fruit carries several protuberances 2–5 cm long, giving it a gothic appearance. Risso’s and Poiteau (1822) list it as one of the most singular ornamental cultivars. Grown in Italian and French botanical gardens since the 16th century, partly present in the Medici collection. Flavour corresponds to the standard bitter orange.

Foetifera — Childing bitter orange

Synonyms: arancio amaro fetifero (it.); Childing Bitter Orange (en.)

Taxonomic position: Citrus aurantium ‘Foetifera’ Hort.; Risso & Poiteau (1822) as C. bigaradia var. fetifera (p. 78); POWO/Kew

Foetifera (recorded by Risso as fetifera) is a cultivar named after its key morphological feature: the presence of a secondary small fruit inside the main fruit — a phenomenon known in Italian literature as frutto nel frutto. The Latin epithet derives from foetus (offspring, embryo) + ferre (to bear), meaning literally “embryо-bearing” — not from fetidus (stinking), as is sometimes erroneously stated. Risso did not describe Foetifera as a malodorous cultivar, and information about any unpleasant odour is not corroborated in modern sources. The Italian nursery Agrumi Lenzi, which cultivates the plant, names it arancio amaro fetifero and in English as “Childing Bitter Orange” (Lenzi, 2021c; Risso & Poiteau, 1822).

The fruit is globose and strongly flattened at the poles; the tree is vigorous, with long, partly thorny branches and lanceolate leaves. The cultivar has a demonstrably ancient origin in Italy and is maintained in specialised collections (Lenzi, 2021c).

Bittersweet oranges — Bittersweet group

Synonyms: Bittersweet, Bittersweet of Florida, Apepu (Paraguay)

Taxonomic position: Citrus aurantium L. ‘Bittersweet’ Hort.; UCR CRC 1588

A group of cultivars differing from the standard bitter orange in lower acidity and more pleasant flavour. Hodgson (1967), on the basis of UCR collection results, regards these cultivars as mutations of the bitter orange, not as hybrids with sweet orange as was formerly assumed. The tree is characterised by a more compact habit, broader and less taper-pointed leaves, and fruits with a slightly smoother rind and paler colour. Hodgson (1967) considers these to be the same cultivar as described by Risso and Poiteau (1818–22, p. 101).

Two varieties are distinguished, practically indistinguishable from each other: Bittersweet of Florida and Apepu (Paraguay). Spanish settlers introduced this group to South America, where the feral form covers extensive areas in Paraguay. The local petitgrain bigarade oil — distilled from leaves and twigs — is today one of the principal world sources of this raw material for the perfumery industry (Hodgson, 1967; UCR, 2026).

Willowleaf (Granito) — Willow-leaved bitter orange

Synonyms: Willowleaf, Granito, Salicifolia; bigaradier à feuilles de saule (fr.)

Taxonomic position: Citrus aurantium ‘Granito’ Hort.; Risso & Poiteau (1822) as C. bigaradia var. salicifolia (p. 102)

The Willowleaf bitter orange is a cultivar with unusually narrow, lanceolate leaves resembling those of a willow or of mandarin cultivars of the C. deliciosa group. This morphological resemblance to mandarin foliage led to historical taxonomic confusion. Trabut (1902) identified Granito / Willowleaf as the probable paternal parent of clementine (C. clementina) — a conclusion relied upon by Chalot et al. (1963) in reconstructing the hybrid origin of clementine; Webber (1943) and Tanaka (1954) however disputed this conclusion (Hodgson, 1967).

Bizzarria — graft chimaera

Taxonomic position: Citrus ‘Bizzarria’ Hort.; periclinal chimaera C. aurantium + C. medica; first documentation: Nati (1674)

Bizzarria is a taxonomically singular object — not a cultivar in the classical sense, but a graft chimaera (periclinal chimaera) arising spontaneously around 1644 at the graft union of bitter orange (C. aurantium) and citron (C. medica) in the garden of Villa Torre degli Agli near Florence, owned by the Panciatichi family. First scientific documentation: Pietro Nati, De malo limonia citrata aurantia vulgo la Bizzarria (1674); Nati was at the time director of the Botanical Garden in Pisa, appointed by Cosimo III de’ Medici (Trattoria Zà Zà, 2024; zitrus.info, 2025).

The characteristic feature of Bizzarria is that on a single plant, branches and fruits of three types may simultaneously develop: pure bitter orange, pure citron, and a mixed (chimaeric) type. Each year different fruits develop, wrinkled and irregular (hence bizzarria = oddity, strangeness). The Medici family considered the result “unaesthetic”; several specimens were nevertheless transferred to other Florentine gardens. Bizzarria disappeared from collections probably during the First World War. In 1980 Paolo Galeotti rediscovered it as the last surviving specimen in a private garden and returned it to the collection of Villa di Castello (Atlas Obscura, 2025; Agrumi Lenzi, 2021).

Bouquetier group — Perfumery cultivars

Representatives: Bouquetier commun, Bouquetier de Nice, Bouquetier de Grasse, Riche Dépouillé

A group of cultivars grown primarily for the production of essential oil from the flowers (neroli bigarade oil), documented from the 15th century in the area of the French and Italian Riviera (Reuther et al., 1967; PROSEA, 2025). Today grown mainly in Morocco and Tunisia. The cultivar Riche Dépouillé is characterised by leaves lacking a winged petiole; its presence in present-day Europe is uncertain — see the note under Crispifolia. A collection of 39 accessions of the Bouquetier group is maintained at INRAE in Saint-Giuliano, Corsica.