The Florentine citron –

citron The citron (''Citrus medica''), historically cedrate, is a large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick Peel (fruit), rind. It is said to resemble a 'huge, rough lemon'. It is one of the Citrus taxonomy#Citrons, original citrus fruits from which al ...

hybrid of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

() – is a very fragrant

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

fruit, which is named after its most known origin of cultivation. Its

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

is ''Citrus × limonimedica'' 'Florentina' Lush.

Source and genetics

This variety or hybrid originated in

Italian Renaissance garden The Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden which emerged in the late 15th century at villas in Rome and Florence, inspired by classical ideals of order and beauty, and intended for the pleasure of the view of the garden and the land ...

s. Today it is considered to be a lemon × citron hybrid. It's known to be one parent of the Bizzarria chimaera.

History and uses

It was first described by Johann Christoph Volkamer in his '' Nürnbergische Hesperides'', who gave a detailed account for original citrus types,

mutations In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitosi ...

and hybrids, along with professional illustrations. He has many illustrations of the Florentine citron growing by itself, or on the Bizzaria tree. Those illustrations resemble the way it looks today. He also writes that it has a very pleasant fragrance, similar to the Greek citron. The most popular Italian variety, namely the Genoese citron, was well respected and praised by Ashkenazic and

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

communities.Rabbi Daniel Tirni of Fiorenza, Ikrei haDath chapter 33.

References

External links

''The Gardeners Dictionary''
by Philip Miller
''The Complete Distiller''
by Ambrose Cooper
''The Complete Confectioner''

''The Universal Botanist and Nurseryman''
by Richard Weston

Ville Giardini Firenze
{{citrus Citron Citrus Citrus hybrids Medicinal plants