The Mother Orange Tree is the oldest living orange tree in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

, United States. Planted in 1854, the

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

is located in Oroville.

History

Originally planted in Bidwell's Bar near the Bidwell Bar Bridge, the tree is a Mediterranean sweet orange ''Citrus × sinensis''

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

. The citrus rootstock was brought from

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, on a shipping vessel. The two-year-old orange tree, which was a novelty in Northern California at the time, was purchased in 1856 by Judge Joseph Lewis in the city of

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

and planted at the western approach to the bridge. The planting of the tree was done by Alfred Clarke, with the help of his foreman, Howard Burt. As the years passed and the tree flourished, growing to a height of over 60 feet (18 m), it was a favorite attraction of miners. They would sample its fruit and save seeds to plant in the dooryards of their cabins. On average, it yielded about 600 pounds (273 kg) of oranges that ripened between February and May each year.

Transplanting

The tree has been transplanted twice: once in 1862 to avoid flooding of the Feather River; and a second time in 1964 during the construction of Oroville Dam when it was moved to the California State Park Headquarters in Oroville. James Edward Huse, a crane operator with Bigge construction was chosen to move the Mother Orange in 1964 due to his ancestors’ involvement in transporting the tree originally. The tree's survival proved that the

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 ...

industry could thrive in the colder climate of Northern California, encouraging many people to grow oranges in the area around Oroville, although the vast majority produced in the region are of the navel orange variety instead.

Recent events

In 1998, a severe

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

struck and the tree stopped bearing fruit for a number of years. As a result of the frost, decay

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

entered the trunk and hollowed it out. To ensure preservation of the tree, propagation experts at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

successfully cloned the tree in 2003 and three clones were brought to Oroville for planting. The tree has since resumed fruit production. The

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

for the bridge may be found near the tree.

References

*Ek, Richard
Old Mother Orange
, ''Chico News and Review'', May 1, 2003 {{citrus Oranges (fruit) Individual citrus trees Individual trees in California Citrus industry in California Economic history of California History of agriculture in the United States History of the American West Oroville, California History of Butte County, California Farm museums in California Tourist attractions in Butte County, California 1856 establishments in California

History

Transplanting

Recent events

See also

References