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The Botanical Garden of Palermo houses a collection of citrus fruits, consisting of 141 specimens, of significant interest both from a scientific and historical point of view.

Its construction began in 1789 and since that year, it has been progressively enlarged with new species, cultivars, and plants coming both from the Sicilian agricultural heritage and from other scientific institutions. Among the formerly introduced species, there are bitter oranges (Citrus x aurantium), sweet oranges (Citrus sinensis), citrons (Citrus medica), lemons (Citrus limon), and the pummelo (Citrus maxima).

In more recent times, myrtle-leaved orange trees (Citrus myrtifolia) and mandarins (Citrus reticulata) have been added. Incidentally, the introduction of mandarins in Sicily and throughout the Mediterranean can be traced back to Palermo at the beginning of the 1800s.

Photo source: https://www.portaledelverde.it/blog-giardino/orto-botanico-palermo/

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)