February22_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

One of the most widely favored of the world's fruits, the orange, sweet orange, or round orange, was for many years known as Citrus aurantium var. Sinensis L. and considered to be a form of the sour orange (q.v.). It is still not universally agreed to be a distinct species, C. Sinensis Osbeck, but it is usually treated as though it were. One of its first recorded regional names was the Persian narang, from which were derived the Spanish name, Naranja, and the Portuguese, Laranja. In some Caribbean and Latin American areas, the fruit is called Naranja de China, China dulce, or simply China (pronounced cheena).

The orange tree, reaching 25 ft (7.5 m) or, with great age, up to 50 ft (15 m), has a rounded crown of slender branches. The twigs are twisted and angled when young and may bear slender, semi-flexible, blunt spines in the leaf axils. There may be faint or conspicuous wings on the petioles of the aromatic, evergreen, alternate, elliptic to ovate, sometimes faintly toothed "leaves"–technically solitary leaflets of compound leaves. These are 2 1/2 to 6 in (6.5-15 cm) long, 1 to 3 3/4 in (2.5-9.5 cm) wide. Borne singly or in clusters of 2 to 6, the sweetly fragrant white flowers, about 2 in (5 cm) wide, have a saucer-shaped, 5-pointed calyx and 5 oblong, white petals, and 20 to 25 stamens with conspicuous yellow anthers. The fruit is globose, subglobose, oblate or somewhat oval, 2 1/2 to 3 3/4 in (6.5-9.5 cm) wide. Dotted with minute glands containing an essential oil, the outer rind (epicarp) is orange or yellow when ripe, the inner rind (mesocarp) is white, spongy and non-aromatic. The pulp (endocarp), yellow, orange or more or less red, consists of tightly packed membranous juice sacs enclosed in 10 to 14 wedge-shaped compartments which are readily separated as individual segments. In each segment there may be 2 to 4 irregular seeds, white externally and internally, though some types of oranges are seedless. The sweet orange differs physically from the sour orange in having a solid center.

Photos - Further to the east of the reservoir is the canal which flows lazily from a diversion of the El Rio river a few kilometers east of here. The water provides much needed life energy not only for the farms below, but also for trees like the Citrus Sinensis (orange tree frame left) and the Prikly Pear Cactus tree at right growing along the edges of the canal.

Photos - As you can see by the surrounding hills; without the El Rio River and Canal/irrigation system, the area would be semi desert. Frames left and right look south from the Canal toward La Corona Hill where a half buried archeological site resides (at the top of the hill). Center frame looks up into a flowering Opuntia Spp (Prickly Pear) tree near the canal. Opuntia is a very large genus of cacti, varying in size from 2 inches tall (5 cm) miniature plants to 100 feet tall (30 m) trees. They are native from Canada, to Chile and Argentina. The genus has been split several times, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus yet on the best way to do that. The name Opuntia comes from the name of a Greek city.

The large fruit of this cacti is edible, boiling down into a sweet, tasty syrup that can be used to make candy or jellies with a unique flavor. In the area of Oaxaca, Mexico the Prickley Pear cactus is very popular. In the market place in the city of Oaxaca and Etla, one can purchase partially skinned cactus leaves grown locally. I have tasted the leaves steamed, with sauces added and find it to have a very unique taste. Natives also make in ice cream with this flavor that although tastes good, has a bizarre taste.

While many prickly pears bear edible fruit, the Desert Prickly Pear is known for it's large quantity of large succulent fruit. I have eaten the deep purple colored fruit from the Prickley Pear (grown in New Mexico), but one has to be very careful of the small, fuzzy spines that are growing on the fruit. Make sure before picking the fruit, that you are wearing thick leather gloves. I wore cotton gloves and was picking minute spines out of my hands for weeks. After wiping the fuzz off the outer skin, peel them just like a Pear and bite into it raw. The fruit was worth it, tasting succulent and juicy, (something like a cross between a pear, cranberry and cactus meat). I also had a go at barrel cactus meat while in New Mexico; very bitter and unpalatable, I don't recommend it.

Native Americans consumed the fresh and dried fruits of eastern prickly-pear cactus, and roasted and ate the stems. The mucilaginous stem sap was used as a wound dressing.

Prickly-pear in the genus Opuntia have been utilized as a forage substitute for grazing livestock in Texas and Mexico for at least a century. It is highly variable in nutrient content, depending on species or variety, age, and plant part. Most research indicates that Opuntia prickly-pear are low in protein and phosphorus but high in energy, water, fiber, and ash.

Photos - This is a small Prickly Pear orchard - the succulent leaves are harvested regularly by a villager who selectively trims the best leaves off for to be sold nearby in the market place at Etla Village. Center frame looks east along the El Rio valley - the best way to hike along the valley is along the canal, however, I have also walked along the trail that follows El Rio River at the base of the valley.

Click here for more photos of San Agustin Etla for this day.