Citrus aurantium L., Rutaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Citrus bigarradia Loisel.; Citrus vulgaris Risso

Common name(s): [more details]

Chamorro: kahet

Chuukese: kurukur, liamis, liamis

English: bigarade, bitter orange, Seville orange, sour orange

Fijian: moli jamu

French: bigaradier, oranger amer

Niuean: moli

Samoan: moli, moli aina

Spanish: naranja agria, naranja amarga

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Tree; spines slender, usually short; but stout spines up to 7-8 cm long on youngest fast-growing shoots; leaves ovate, blunt, on petioles 2-3 cm long, rather broadly winged, narrowing toward base; flowers bisexuual with a few staminate; fruits subspherical, 5-10 cm broad, orange, slightly rough; pulp orange, but very sour; center becoming hollow at last, hence fruit able to float"  (Stone, 1970; pp. 353-354).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Presumably a native of southeastern Asia (Smith, 1985; pp. 520-521).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
American Samoa Swain's Island	Swain's Island	introduced cultivated	Whistler, W. A. (1983) (p. 14) Voucher cited: Whistler 3431
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Aguijan (Agiguan, Aguihan) Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 39)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Asuncion Island	introduced cultivated	Falanruw, M. V. C. (1989) (p. 8)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Asuncion Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Falanruw, M. V. C./Sachet, M.-H. (1977) (p. 30) Voucher cited: Falanruw 3091 (US)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Rota Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 39)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 122)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Tinian Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 39)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Observed in survey, no herbarium record.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Observed in survey, no herbarium record.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Santiago Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Islands	Namoluk (Nómwunuuk) Atoll	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 122)
Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Islands	Namoluk (Nómwunuuk) Atoll	introduced invasive cultivated	Marshall, Mae/Fosberg, F. R. (1975) (p. 37) Voucher cited: Marshall 64 (US)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Nukuoro Atoll	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 122)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 122)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Fiji Islands	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (pp. 520-521)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Fatu Hiva Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Hiva Oa Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Ua Huka (Huahuna, Uahuka) Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Mehetia (Mahetia, Meetia) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 135)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 135)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 135)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (pp. 353-354) Voucher cited: Stone 4232 (GUAM)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 122)
Kiribati Line Islands	Flint Island	introduced cultivated	St. John, Harold/Fosberg, F. Raymond (1937) (p. 4) Voucher cited: St. John & Fosberg 17454 (BISH)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 124) Vouchers cited: Baumann & Guillaumin 7155, Hürlimann 59, MacKee 40832 Spontané
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced cultivated	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (p. 182)
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Yuncker, T. G. (1943) (p. 70) Voucher cited: Yuncker 9760 (BISH) "A few trees grow spontaneously along roadsides and in thickets"
Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands	Pitcairn Island	introduced	St. John, H. (1987) (p. 38) Voucher cited: Fosberg & B. Christian 11302

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island		Stoddart, D. R./Taylor, J. D., eds. (1971) (p. 152) "Bitter oranges recorded by Bourne (Hemsley 1884, p. 334)."
Maldives Maldive Islands	Maldive Islands		Fosberg, F. R. (1957) (p. 22)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Agalega Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. (1983) (p. 136)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Frégate Island		Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. (1983) (p. 60)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station.

Additional information:
Additional online information about Citrus aurantium is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Citrus aurantium as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Citrus aurantium may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

Other Latin names:  Citrus bigarradia Loisel.; Citrus vulgaris Risso

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Falanruw, M. V. C. 1989. Vegetation of Asuncion, a volcanic northern Mariana Island. Pac. SW Forest and Range Expt. Stn. Resource Bull. PSW-28. USDA Forest Service. 11 pp.

Fosberg, F. R. 1957. The Maldive Islands, Indian Ocean. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 58. Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington. 37 pp.

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Fosberg, F. R./Falanruw, M. V. C./Sachet, M.-H. 1977. Additional records of vascular plants from the northern Mariana Islands. Micronesica 13: 27-31.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. 1983. List of the recorded vascular flora of Agalega. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. 2008. Flora of the Marquesas Islands. National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Institution. Online database.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Marshall, Mae/Fosberg, F. R. 1975. The natural history of Namoluk Atoll, eastern Caroline Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 189. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 53 pp + photos.

Merlin, M./Juvik, J. 1996. Irá me neeniier nón Chuuk: Plants and their Environments in Chuuk. Program on Environment, East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 121 pp. .

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 40:1-69. .

Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. 1983. Vegetation of Frégate Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Smith, Albert C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 3. 758 pp.

St. John, H. 1987. An account of the flora of Pitcairn Island with new Pandanus species. Honolulu, 65 pp.

St. John, Harold/Fosberg, F. Raymond. 1937. Vegetation of Flint Island, Central Pacific. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers XII(24):1-4.

Stoddart, D. R./Taylor, J. D., eds. 1971. Geography and ecology of Diego Garcia Atoll, Chagos Archipelago. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 149. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 237 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Sykes, W. R. 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200, Wellington. 321 pp.

Topp, J. M. W. 1988. An annotated check list of the flora of Diego Garcia, British Ocean Territory. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 313. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 21 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Whistler, W. A. 1983. The flora and vegetation of Swains Island. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 262. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 25 pp.

Yuncker, T. G. 1943. The flora of Niue Island. Bishop Mus. Bull. 178. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 126 pp.

Yuncker, T. G. 1945. Plants of the Manua Islands. Bishop Mus. Bull. 184. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 73 pp.