Citrus Bizzarria
Citrus Bizzarria are unusual citrus plants that act as chimeras to show the morphological and genetic characteristics of different citrus species in an individual. The term Bizzarria goes back to the colloquial term used in Italy for the "peculiar / strange / bizarre" plants or parts of plants - and mainly the distinctive fruits.
The Bizzarria, which originated in Florence around 1644, is the best known of these varieties and was first described by Pietro Nati in 1674. It forms leaves, flowers and fruits that partly resemble cedar lemons ( Citrus medica ), partly bitter oranges ( Citrus × aurantium ) and partly bizarre hybrid forms of both species. It is therefore considered the most unusual citrus fruit. According to Nati's illustration, the Florentine Bizzarria was created by grafting a cedar lemon on a bitter orange. The grafting failed and was initially neglected until later a sprout developed from the grafting point, which in the following period showed the characteristics typical of the Bizzarria.
In addition to the bitter orange and citron lemon bizzariums, various other chimeras of different citrus species have been described in the literature. There is information on mixtures of both types with lemon ( Citrus × limon (L.)) or between orange , lemon and lime . The Aurantium callosum multiforme depicted by Giovanni Baptista Ferrari in his Hesperides , which came from Naples, was probably a chimera of orange and cedar lemon.
Because of their extraordinary properties, bizzariums have not only attracted the interest of gardeners at all times. The Florentine Bizzarria in particular was spread across Europe and can be found in many botanical gardens and historical citrus collections up to the beginning of the last century.
In 1980 Paolo Galeotti discovered a Florentine bizzarria in the Villa Reale di Castello in Florence. Since this rediscovery it has been spread again by collectors and enthusiasts.
Although it is a chimera, it is now often assigned to the bitter oranges and referred to as Citrus × aurantium 'Bizzarria' . According to the ICNCP regulations (Article 24: Names of Graft-Chimeras) the correct name is Citrus 'Bizzarria'.
literature
- James W. Cameron, Howard B. Frost: Genetics, Breeding, and Nuclear Embryony. In: Walter Reuther et al. (Ed.): The Citrus Industry. Anatomy, physiology, genetics, and reproduction. Vol. II. Chapter 5. Rev. Ed., Univ. of Calif., Berkeley 1968 ( online ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Tyôzaburô Tanaka: Bizzarria - A clear case of periclinal chimera . In: Journal of Genetics. 18, Issue 1 1927, pp. 77-85 ( doi : 10.1007 / BF03052603 ).
- ↑ Pietro Nati: Florentina phytologica observatio de malo Limonia citrata aurantia. Florentiae vulgo la Bizzarria. Typis Hypolyti de Naue, Florentiae 1674.
- ↑ A Phytological Observation Concerning Orenges and Limon, Both separately and in one piece produced on one and the same Tree at Florence: Described by the Florentin Physitian Peter Natus, and the description lately Communicated to the Publisher. In: Philosophical Transactions. 10, 1675, p. 313-314 ( JSTOR 101649 ).
- ↑ Georges Gallesio: Traité du Citrus. Fantin, Paris 1811, pp. 145-148 ( online ).
- ^ Paris Academy: Diverses Observations Botaniques. In: Histoire de l'Académie royale des sciences , Paris 1712, p. 51 ( online ).
- ^ Giovanni Baptista Ferrari: Hesperides; sive: De malorum aureorum cultura et usu.Libri quatuor. Hermann Scheus, Romae 1646, p. 407 ( doi : 10.3931 / e-rara-9768 ).
- ↑ Paolo Galeotti: Citrus aurantium L. "Bizzaria" . In: Giorgio Tintori (Ed.): Citrus trees in ornamental cultivation . Edifir, Florence 2002, pp. 123-125. ISBN 88-7970-143-6 .
- ↑ Christopher Brickell: International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP or Cultivated Plants Code) incorporating the Rules and Recommendations for naming plants in cultivation . Eighth edition. ISHS International Society for Horticultural Science, Leuven 2009 (Regnum Vegetabile, 151). ISBN 978-90-6605-662-6 .