Why is orange called "Chinese apple"?

Again, the season of citrus is on the market. Citrus is the generic name for oranges, oranges, oranges, tangerines and pomelo. It is not easy to search for the origin of this big family.
1. species of ancient or origin glacial age
From wild to cultivated as a fruit tree, citrus has undergone a long process of evolution. The origin of citrus is controversial, has said the citrus origin center in Chinese, India, Southeast Asia, the most species native to Chinese, Fortunella Poncirus and the origin of species is also the center of Chinese; that the citrus origin of the Yunnan Guizhou Plateau, via the Yangtze and to the south of Huaihe. And the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, south of the Five Ridges area until; some experts and scholars think called Quaternary glacier "refuge" in Three Gorges area is the hometown of citrus plants.
Early researchers found that in the valleys of Jinsha River, the upper reaches of the Dadu River, and near Yunnan, Erhai, there were wild and semi wild primitive communities of large winged orange, orange and grapefruit. In the survey of Crop Germplasm Resources in 80s of last century, a number of original wild types of citrus were found in Tibet, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan and Jiangxi. The researchers also found that a large number of wild Yichang oranges still exist in the mountains and valleys of the Xiling gorge in the Yangtze river. These wild citrus plants represent the living fossil of ancient wild citrus plants that evolved into garden fruit trees.

In the global plant classification list, you can find the famous "Yichang orange" name. Yichang wild orange researchers said: "the Rutaceae plant is a new plant before and after the emergence of the Cretaceous angiosperms, belonging to the Rutaceae citrus in Yichang orange, is likely to be the original species in Quaternary glacial climates of citrus."

2., only grafting can guarantee the superiority of fathers
Citrus family tree is difficult to clarify, because any two kinds of citrus fruits produced "love crystallization" pull together, and these offspring can combine with other citrus plants, produce more variation. A consensus reached by several generations of botanists are: citron, grapefruit and orange peel is a three bit wide citrus family ancestors. The three are distinguished by their looks, aroma, taste, and peel thickness. They are worthy of being the ancestors of the citrus family.
In the early history of natural hybridization, the three citrus ancestors, first grapefruit and wide orange, gave birth to the world's most important citrus fruit, orange. Because grapefruit and orange peel have both sweet and sour flavors, oranges have evolved into two major categories: lime and common orange. An orange inherited from its parent gene is larger than an orange and smaller than a grapefruit. Its skin is not so thin as that of a wide orange peel. It is not as thick as a grapefruit skin and is difficult to peel.
Even before people found the hybridization of Wild Citrus family on the hill in the "show off" the fruits of citrus, but family really into the five continents of the world, cannot do without the human long history of cultivation and key grafting technique. The citrus cultivation science and technology created by ancient people in China has been a leading position in the history of citrus production in the world. After the long-term cultivation and selection of the ancestors, the citrus family has formed many lines.
In the pre Qin documents and historical data, orange is the earliest fruit tree cultivated in the citrus family, and citrus is also one of the earliest and most recorded fruit trees. According to the "Yu Gong" records, the Xia Dynasty period, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei and other places of citrus production, has been listed as a tribute. "Zhongshan The Classic of the Great Wilderness" records "jingshan...... Its grass is much bamboo, and more oranges." If the "Yu Gong", "The Classic of the Great Wilderness" is as it is said Yu works, then, China's citrus cultivation history can be traced back to 4000 years ago.
In the various books and writings around the third Century BC, oranges began to appear frequently. According to legend, such as a book in fifth Century BC "Book Week" in "autumn food nouelia tangelos pear." "Chuang-tzu" in "the ritual for the Three Emperors and Five Sovereigns testimonies, the orange pear and tangelos evil, its taste is opposite and are available from the mouth." "Han Feizi" in "tree shaddock", "food is sweet", "smell" is fragrant." In Yan Zi's spring and Autumn period, there are also oranges, oranges and oranges in Huainan. In Huaibei, they are trifoliate orange". This shows that citrus has always existed in the Jianghuai Valley in ancient china.
Citrus grafting techniques have been recorded as early as the Warring States period. Since citrus seedlings are grafted only in order to maintain their paternal dominance, citrus breeding is usually done by grafting. The citrus growers typically in the family of cold resistance, disease resistance and higher yield for trifoliate rootstocks, trifoliate orange, orange is also useful, Yichang orange and sweet orange rootstock etc.. As most Citrus Seeds are exposed to dry, they will lose their germination power. Our ancient gardener has also created the cultivation techniques of orange peel or peeling skin into the moist soil to be heated by spring.
In the Qin and Han Dynasties, citrus planting was further developed. "LvShiChunQiu", in the "fruit of the United states...... Tangerine in Jiangpu, grapefruit in Yunmeng." "Historical records biography" recorded "Su Qi to fish the sea salt, Chu will be tangelos Park" that a large area planted in southern China citrus, and occupies a very important position, and the fish can flush in the salt production. "Shihchi merchant biography" in the "Shu Jiangling orange trees...... This person is with thousands of households hou." Visible in the spring and Autumn period, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and Jiangling Shu citrus producing areas, there are thousands of orange tree orchard, and the orchard owner can coordinate with 1000 Hou, this shows that the local large orchards has a certain political status.
3., the Ming and Qing Dynasties citrus commodity Era
Our common varieties of Citrus tangerine, orange, orange, grapefruit, Jin Ju (Jin Gan), lemon, citron, citron, citron, generation, etc. the classification of trifoliate orange, orange, orange, orange, grapefruit, first appeared in the northern and Southern Dynasties of the ancient "Yi Yuan". The northern and Southern Dynasties also appeared in two is worth mentioning: "Xiangyang" and "Jingzhou old Jain Ji", which is related with citrus records. "Xiangyang" at the end of the Han Dynasty old Jain chronicles of Danyang Prefecture Li Heng, before planting citrus thousand lines, leaving the family's wife and children writer, dying told the son: "there are thousands of head of state is not responsible for my wood Nu, your food and clothing, old silk horse, also when the foot with seoul." Later known as "wood Nu" and "jinnu orange", is starting from here, reflects the economic value of Citrus in ancient times.
"Jingzhou remember" recorded: "Yidu county old Jiangbei Gan garden," "Yidu Gan."." (Gansu is orange), orange (Island) in the County South four years of nanjinguan, often read as follows. When the summer hill water, states are not orange, state (Asia) alone." It can be proved that, more than 1500 years ago, citrus production in Hubei and Yichang region has reached a considerable scale, and cultivated the famous "Yidu orange"". People all know that Hunan Changsha Xiangjiang on the edge of the "orange", but little known not far outside the Three Gorges gorge door Jiangzhou the earliest Orange Island in Lianjiang shoal are built in, its prosperity can see.
By the Tang and Song Dynasties, the national citrus planting area has been roughly the same as the modern planting range. The Song Dynasty Ou Yangxiu writing "New Tang geography", listed in China's southern rich citrus to the local citrus tribute to the court. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Han Yan recorded almost 3/5 of the 27 citrus in the world's first citrus monograph, the orange book. "The orange record" of Citrus grafting is also described in details: "the good and the beauty of mandarin orange, a branch of Xiangyang thought anvil. Go to the foot of the ground, stay sawed, pick off its skin, two butt, do not shake its roots."
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, citrus has developed into the era of commodity production. The Qing Dynasty works "Nanfeng customs Zhi" recorded in the household objects such as the Jiangxi Nanfeng village "do not bring, specially with the orange industry". Qing Shi Hongbao in the "Fujian miscellanies" recorded in the "Fuzhou city wide dozens of acres, all kinds of citrus." Qing Wu Zhenfang in "south of the Five Ridges miscellanies" records: "Guangzhou little arable land, the variety of Citrus by Tulli."
4. Portuguese once called "Chinese apple""
Love the human not only selected for citrus, taste the unique individual grafting citrus family, also take them across the ocean, "study abroad". As a result, the citrus family, a variety of rare variation of the individual has been retained, and some species have been carried forward, and returned to its native land, become the favorite tongue of the Chinese people.
According to textual research, the records about the citrus family going abroad were first seen in the Tang dynasty. Between Japan and Zhejiang to China Shang Tian Shou Tiantai Mountain pilgrimage back to the citrus seeds planted in Kagoshima, Long Island, Japan, by mutation and selection and into "Wenzhou Mandarin", also known as the "Wenzhou orange". Today, South Australia, New Zealand, many parts of Russia in the north of the Black Sea coast, the distribution of a Wenzhou mandarin. At present, Japan is still the world's most populous country of Wenzhou orange production.
In English, Mandarin and orange are collectively referred to as "Manchester Daning" (Mandarin), its intent is "Chinese precious orange". In 1821, the British Chinese were collected, the kumquat brought to europe. In 1892, the United States imported from Chinese also called "Ponkan, Satsuma China", now has become the world renowned Ponkan tangerine enjoy international market. The development of new varieties of Kerrey mydin orange growth in foreign countries, has become one of the world's most planted citrus varieties, similar to China's red tangerine, soft and juicy, sweet with sour.
Although many of the oranges in the market today are native to America, this does not mean that their native place is in america. The archaeological evidence shows that, at least in 2500 BC, Chinese began to grow until the year 1471, orange, orange, orange, orange and other citrus fruit was imported from Lisbon in Portugal Chinese, after the Portuguese took to the Mediterranean culture, known locally as "China apple".
In 1493, when Columbo visited the new continent for the second time, oranges landed on the American continent and found the promised land there. It was also said that until 1665, oranges were introduced into the United States and Latin america. In 1820, an orange tree in a monastery in Brazil had a mutation. An orange had a small orange in the tail. At the same time, the orange in the tree was seedless, so it could not be planted by seed and could only be grafted. In 1870, two navel orange trees were successfully grafted in the United States. The world of navel orange became popular, and even today, the planting method of navel orange is still only grafted. Nowadays, citrus fruits account for the largest proportion and the most abundant varieties of citrus fruits in the world, accounting for more than 400 of the total citrus yield, accounting for about 2/3 of the total citrus yield. People familiar with the orange treasures are Washington navel orange, Sichuan, Fengjie navel orange and so on.
Now, the family has become the world's citrus fruit plate "noble family". But gardeners from all over the world are clearly not satisfied with it and continue to work out new varieties of Citrus by crossing or by using cell fusion techniques. Some people have the imagination, the future of these technologies will be the birth of the citrus family more new varieties, such as not spit the oranges, not bitter Orange Juice, more full of citrus, can even put together the orange and kumquat characteristics, develop even belt flesh eaten with high-grade fruit.