Poseidon was a major civic god of several cities: in Athens, he was second only to Athena in importance, while in Corinth and many cities of Magna Graecia he was the chief god of the polis.

In his benign aspect, Poseidon was seen as creating new islands and offering calm seas. When offended or ignored, he supposedly struck the ground with his trident and caused chaotic springs, earthquakes, drownings and shipwrecks. Sailors prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage, sometimes drowning horses as a sacrifice; in this way, according to a fragmentary papyrus, Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore before the climacteric battle of Issus, and resorted to prayers, “invoking Poseidon the sea-god, for whom he ordered a four-horse chariot to be cast into the waves.”

According to Pausanias, Poseidon was one of the caretakers of the oracle at Delphi before Olympian Apollo took it over. Apollo and Poseidon worked closely in many realms: in colonization, for example, Delphic Apollo provided the authorization to go out and settle, while Poseidon watched over the colonists on their way, and provided the lustral water for the foundation-sacrifice. Xenophon’s ”Anabasis” describes a group of Spartan soldiers in 400–399 BCE singing to Poseidon a paean — a kind of hymn normally sung for Apollo.

Like Dionysus, who inflamed the maenads, Poseidon also caused certain forms of mental disturbance. A Hippocratic text of ca 400 BCE, ”On the Sacred Disease” says that he was blamed for certain types of epilepsy.

Bronze Age Greece

> The name seems to transparently stem from Greek ”pósis” “lord, husband” with a less-transparent -”don” element, perhaps from ”dea”, “goddess”. If surviving Linear B clay tablets can be trusted, the name PO-SE-DA-WO-NE (“Poseidon”) occurs with greater frequency than does DI-U-JA (“Zeus”). A feminine variant, PO-SE-DE-IA, is also found, indicating a lost consort goddess, in effect a precursor of Amphitrite. Tablets from Pylos record sacrificial goods destined for “the Two Queens and Poseidon” and to “the Two Queens and the King”. The most obvious identification for the “Two Queens” is with Demeter and Persephone, or their precursors, goddesses who were not associated with Poseidon in later periods. In Mycenaean Knossos, Poseidon is already identified as “Earth-Shaker” (E-NE-SI-DA-O-NE), a powerful attribute (earthquakes had accompanied the collapse of the Minoan palace-culture). In the heavily sea-dependent Mycenaean culture, no connection between Poseidon and the sea has yet surfaced; among the Olympians it was determined by lot that he should rule over the sea: the god preceded his realm.

Demeter and Poseidon’s names are linked in one Pylos tablet, where they appear as PO-SE-DA-WO-NE and DA, referred to by the epithets Enosichthon, Seischthon and Ennosigaios, all meaning “earth-shaker” and referring to his role in causing earthquakes.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Poseidon, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Several of the physical and mental traits that typify 19th-century depictions of Master Morya appear in an account by the theosophist Charles Johnston of a conversation he had with Madame Blavatsky. In speaking of the handwriting of the Mahatma Letters shown him by Sinnett, Johnston quotes himself as telling Blavatsky, “‘There were two: the blue writing, and the red; they were totally different from each other, and both were quite unlike yours. I have spent a good deal of time studying the relation of handwriting to character, and the two characters were quite clearly marked. The blue was evidently a man of very gentle and even character, but of tremendously strong will; logical, easy-going, and taking endless pains to make his meaning clear. It was altogether the handwriting of a cultivated and very sympathetic man.’ ‘Which I am not,’ said H. P. B., with a smile; ‘that is Mahatma Koothoomi; he is a Kashmiri Brahman by birth, you know, and has travelled a good deal in Europe. He is the author of the Occult World letters, and gave Mr. Sinnett most of the material of Esoteric Buddhism… But what about the other writing?’ ‘The red? Oh that is wholly different. It is fierce, impetuous, dominant, strong; it comes in volcanic outbursts, while the other is like Niagara Falls. One is fire, and the other is the ocean. They are wholly different, and both quite unlike yours. But the second has more resemblance to yours than the first.’ ‘This is my Master,’ she said, ‘whom we call Mahatma Morya. I have his picture here.’

And she showed me a small panel in oils. If ever I saw genuine awe and reverence in a human face, it was in hers, when she spoke of her Master. He was a Rajput by birth, she said, one of the old warrior race of the Indian desert, the finest and handsomest nation in the world. Her Master was a giant, six feet eight, and splendidly built; a superb type of manly beauty. Even in the picture, there is a marvellous power and fascination; the force, the fierceness even, of the face; the dark, glowing eyes, which stare you out of countenance; the clear-cut features of bronze, the raven hair and beard—all spoke of a tremendous individuality, a very Zeus in the prime of manhood and strength. I asked her something about his age. She answered: ‘My dear, I cannot tell you exactly, for I do not know. But this I will tell you. I met him first when I was twenty,—in 1851. He was in the very prime of manhood then. I am an old woman now, but he has not aged a day. He is still in the prime of manhood. That is all I can say. You may draw your own conclusions.’ ‘Have the Mahatmas discovered the elixir of life?’ ‘That is no fable,’ said H. P. B. seriously. ‘It is only the veil hiding a real occult process, warding off age and dissolution for periods which would seem fabulous, so I will not mention them. The secret is this: for every man, there is a climacteric, when he must draw near to death; if he has squandered his life-powers, there is no escape for him; but if he has lived according to the law, he may pass through and so continue in the same body almost indefinitely.’”

Somewhat corroborating the “fierce, dominant” image of his friend, Master Koot Hoomi writes as follows. “In noticing M’s opinion of yourself as expressed in some of his letters…you say he has ‘a peculiar mode of expressing himself to say the least.’ Now that ‘way’ is simply the bare truth, which he is ready to write to yourself, or even say and repeat to your face, without the least concealment or change…and he is—of all men I know—just the one to do it without the least hesitation! And for this, you call him ‘an imperious sort of chap very angry if he is opposed’… I am prepared to concede the definition in a limited sense, and to admit and repeat with you (and himself at my elbow) that he is a very imperious sort of chap, and certainly very apt sometimes to become angry, especially if he is opposed in what he knows to be right. Would you think more of him, were he to conceal his anger; to lie to himself and the outsiders, and so permit them to credit him with a virtue he has not?… [You] will hardly if ever be able to appreciate such characters as Morya’s: a man as stern for himself, as severe for his own shortcomings, as he is indulgent for the defects of other people, not in words but in the innermost feelings of his heart; for, while ever ready to tell you to your face anything he may think of you, he yet was ever a stauncher friend to you than myself, who may often hesitate to hurt anyone’s feelings, even in speaking the strictest truth.”

The Mahatma Letters contain several examples of Master Morya’s uncompromising candidness, including sharp criticism of caste and orthodoxy in the “Prayag Letter” sent to a group of Brahmins in Allahabad. He himself acknowledges, “If I once am forced to speak I must say ALL, or say—nothing.” However, numerous letters signed or dictated by Morya in ”The Mahatma Letters” and ”Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom” give the picture not of a haughty tyrant but of a capable leader whose dealings with people are characterized by insight, magnanimity, gratitude, and loyalty. Such letters bear out the observation of Countess Wachtmeister that the Masters are “tolerant and charitable… in all their dealings.” The Master shows a detailed grasp of worldly affairs, and his prediction regarding India’s liberation has proved to be correct. He explains things esoteric with patience and care, even suppressing his dislike of writing letters and modifying his admittedly poor handwriting for the sake of his correspondents. The Master also possesses a good sense of humor, and enjoys playing tricks.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Morya, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Gregory of Tours first inserted the thematic element that has shaped subsequent interpretations of Tolbiac as a climacteric in the course of European history: Clovis is said to have attributed his success to a vow that he had made: if he won, he would convert to the religion of the Christian God who had aided him. He became a Christian in a ceremony at Reims at Christmas 496; the traditional date of the battle of Tolbiac has been established to accord with this firmly attested baptismal date, by accepting as literal truth Gregory’s account which has a clear parallel with the conversion of Constantine I, connected by Lactantius with the equally conclusive Battle of the Milvian Bridge. A surviving letter from Avitus of Vienne, congratulating Clovis on his baptism, makes no mention of the supposed recent battlefield conversion.

”Historia Francorum” ii.30-31 directly affirms the parallel Gregory is establishing with the conversion of Constantine the Great before the Battle of Milvian Bridge:

:”at last a war arose with the Alamanni, in which he was driven by necessity to confess what before he had of his free will denied. It came about that as the two armies were fighting fiercely, there was much slaughter, and Clovis’s army began to be in danger of destruction. He saw it and raised his eyes to heaven, and with remorse in his heart he burst into tears and cried: “Jesus Christ, whom Clotilde asserts to be the son of the Living God, who art said to give aid to those in distress, and to bestow victory on those who hope in thee, I beseech the glory of th

:”Then the queen asked saint Remi, bishop of Rheims, to summon Clovis secretly, urging him to introduce the king to the word of salvation. And the bishop sent for him secretly and began to urge him to believe in the true God, maker of heaven and earth, and to cease worshipping idols, which could help neither themselves nor any one else. But the king said: “I gladly hear you, most holy father; but there remains one thing: the people who follow me cannot endure to abandon their gods; but I shall go and speak to them according to your words.” He met with his followers, but before he could speak the power of God anticipated him, and all the people cried out together: “O pious king, we reject our mortal gods, and we are ready to follow the immortal God whom Remi preaches.” This was reported to the bishop, who was greatly rejoiced, and bade them get ready the baptismal font. The squares were shaded with tapestried canopies, the churches adorned with white curtains, the baptistery set in order, the aroma of incense spread, candles of fragrant odor burned brightly, and the whole shrine of the baptistery was filled with a divine fragrance: and the Lord gave such grace to those who stood by that they thought they were placed amid the odors of paradise. And the king was the first to ask to be baptized by the bishop. Another Constantine advanced to the baptismal font…”

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Tolbiac, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Delayed ripening

Tomatoes have been used as a model organism to study the fruit ripening of climacteric fruit. To understand the mechanisms involved in the process of ripening, scientists have genetically engineered tomatoes.

In 1994, the Flavr Savr became the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a license for human consumption. A second copy of the tomato gene ”polygalacturonase” was inserted into the tomato genome in the antisense direction. The polygalacturonase enzyme degrades pectin, a component of the tomato cell wall, causing the fruit to soften. When the antisense gene is expressed it interferes with the production of the polygalacturonase enzyme, delaying the ripening process. The Flavr Savr failed to achieve commercial success and was withdrawn from the market in 1997. Similar technology, but using a truncated version of the polygalacturonase gene, was used to make a tomato paste.

DNA Plant Technology (DNAP), Agritope and Monsanto developed tomatoes that delayed ripening by preventing the production of ethylene, a hormone that triggers ripening of fruit. All three tomatoes inhibited ethylene production by reducing the amount of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), the precursor to ethylene. DNAP’s tomato, called Endless Summer, inserted a truncated version of the ”ACC synthase” gene into the tomato that interfered with the endogenous ”ACC synthase”. Monsanto’s tomato was engineered with the ”ACC deaminase” gene from the soil bacterium ”Pseudomonas chlororaphis” that lowered ethylene levels by breaking down ACC. Agritope introduced an S-adenosylmethionine hydrolase (SAMase) encoding gene derived from the ”E. coli” bacteriophage T3, which reduced the levels of S-adenosylmethionine, a precursor to ACC. Endless Summer was briefly tested in the marketplace, but patent arguments forced its withdrawal.

Scientists in India have delayed the ripening of tomatoes by silencing two genes encoding N-glycoprotein modifying enzymes, α-mannosidase and β-D-N-acetylhexosaminidase. The fruits produced were not visibly damaged after being stored at room temperature for 45 days, whereas unmodified tomatoes had gone rotten. In India, where 30% of fruit is wasted before it reaches the market due to a lack of refrigeration and poor road infrastructure, the researchers hope genetic engineering of the tomato may decrease wastage.

Environmental stress tolerance

Abiotic stresses like frost, drought and increased salinity are a limiting factor to the growth of tomatoes. While no genetically modified stress tolerant plants are currently commercialised, transgenic approaches have been researched. An early tomato was developed that contained an antifreeze gene (”afa3”) from the winter flounder with the aim of increasing the tomato’s tolerance to frost (see Fish tomato). The antifreeze protein was found to inhibit ice recrystallization in the flounders blood, but had no effect when expressed in transgenic tobacco. The resulting tomato was never commercialized, but raised ethical questions over adding genes from one kingdom to another.

Other genes from various species have been inserted into the tomato with the hope of increasing their resistance to various environmental factors. A gene from rice (”Osmyb4”), which codes for a transcription factor, that was shown to increase cold and drought tolerance in transgenic ”Arabidopsis thaliana” plants was inserted into the tomato. This resulted in increased drought tolerance, but did not appear to have any effect on cold tolerance. Overexpressing a vacuolar Na+/H+ antiport (”AtNHX1”) from ”A. thaliana” lead to salt accumulating in the leaves of the plants, but not in the fruit and allowed them to grow more in salt solutions than wildtype plants. They where the first salt-tolerant, edible plants ever created. Tobacco osmotic genes overexpressed in tomatoes produced plants that held a higher water content than wildtype plants increasing tolerance to drought and salt stress.

Pest resistance

The insecticidal toxin from the bacterium ”Bacillus thuringiensis” has been inserted into a tomato plant. When field tested they showed resistance to the tobacco hornworm (”Manduca sexta”), tomato fruitworm (”Heliothis zea”), the tomato pinworm (”Keiferia lycopersicella”) and the tomato fruit borer (”Helicoverpa armigera”). A 91 day feeding trail in rats showed no adverse effects, but the Bt tomato has never been commercialised. Tomatoes resistant to a root knot nematode have been created by inserting a cysteine proteinase inhibitor gene from taro. A chemically synthesised ”ceropin B” gene, usually found in the giant silk moth (”Hyalophora cecropia”), has been introduced into tomato plants and in vivo studies show significant resistance to bacterial wilt and bacterial spot. When the cell wall proteins, polygalacturonase and expansin are prevented from being produced in fruits, they are less susceptible to the fungus ”Botrytis cinerea” than normal tomatoes.

Improved nutrition

Tomatoes have been altered in attempts to improve their flavour or nutritional content. In 2000, the concentration of pro-vitamin A was increased by adding a bacterial gene encoding phytoene desaturase, although the total amount of carotenoids remained equal. The researchers admitted at the time that it had no prospect of being grown commercially due to the anti-GM climate. Sue Meyer of the pressure group Genewatch, told ”The Independent” that she believed, “If you change the basic biochemistry, you could alter the levels of other nutrients very important for health”. More recently, scientists have increased the production of anthocyanin, an antioxidant in tomatoes in several ways. One group added a transcription factor for the production of anthocyanin from ”Arabidopsis thaliana” whereas another used transcription factors from snapdragon (”Antirrhinum”). When the snapdragon genes where used, the fruits had similar anthocyanin concentrations to blackberries and blueberries, and when fed to cancer susceptible mice, extended their life span. Another group has tried to increase the levels of isoflavone, known for its potential cancer preventative properties, by introducing the soybean ”isoflavone synthase” into tomatoes.

Improved taste

When ”geraniol synthase” from lemon basil (”Ocimum basilicum”) was expressed in tomato fruits under a fruit-specific promoter, 60% of untrained taste testers preferred the taste and smell of the transgenic tomatoes. The fruits contained around half the amount of lycopene, reducing the health benefits of eating them.

Vaccines

Tomatos, along with potatoes, bananas and other plants are being investigated as vehicles for delivering edible vaccines. Clinical trials have been conducted on mice using tomatoes expressing antibodies or proteins that stimulate antibody production targeted to norovirus, hepatitis B, rabies, HIV, anthrax and respiratory syncytial virus. Korean scientists are looking at using the tomato to expressing a vaccine against Alzheimer’s disease. Hilary Koprowski, who was involved in the development of the polio vaccine, is leading a group of researchers in developing a tomato expressing a recombinant vaccine to SARS.

Basic research

Tomatoes are used as a model organism in scientific research and they are frequently genetically modified to further our understanding of particular processes. Tomatoes have been used as a model in map-based cloning, where trangsenic plants must be created to prove that a gene has been successfully isolated. The plant peptide hormone, systemin was first identified in tomato plants and genetic modification has been used to demonstrate its function, by adding antisense genes to silence the native gene, or by adding extra copies of the native gene.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Genetically modified tomato, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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He graduated B.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1567, and M.A. in 1570.

He became Dean of Gloucester in 1584, and Bishop of St. David’s in 1594. In 1596 he preached a celebrated sermon before Elizabeth I at Richmond Palace, in which he made extensive allusions to her approaching old age (she was 63 in 1596, and he made play of this as the astrology, on his text “O teach us to number our days”) and physical signs of it. Thomas Fuller in his ”Church History of Britain” claims that this sermon, and a later one in 1602, offended the Queen, one of his sources being Sir John Harrington’s account. Anecdotally John Whitgift is supposed to have led Rudd on to preach plainly, and Rudd lost the succession as Archbishop of Canterbury by so doing, but Whitgift survived Elizabeth in any case.

He attended the Hampton Court Conference of 1604; he was sympathetic to Puritanism.

He is buried in the church at Llangathen, where his wife erected a “bedstead” tomb. Rudd had acquired adjacent property at Aberglasney.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Anthony Rudd, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Nereus (Νηρεύς), in Greek mythology, was the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia (the Earth), a Titan who (with Doris) fathered the Nereids, with whom Nereus lived in the Aegean Sea. In the ”Iliad” the Old Man of the Sea is the father of Nereids, though Nereus is not directly named. He was never more manifestly the Old Man of the Sea than when he was described, like Proteus, as a shapeshifter with the power of prophecy, who would aid heroes such as Heracles who managed to catch him even as he changed shapes. Nereus and Proteus (the “first”) seem to be two manifestations of the god of the sea who was supplanted by Poseidon when Zeus overthrew Cronus.

The earliest poet to link Nereus with the labours of Heracles was Pherekydes, according to a ”scholion” on Apollonius of Rhodes.

During the course of the 5th century BCE, Nereus was gradually replaced by Triton, who does not appear in Homer, in the imagery of the struggle between Heracles and the sea-god who had to be restrained in order to deliver his information that was employed by the vase-painters, independent of any literary testimony.

In a late appearance, according to a fragmentary papyrus, Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore before the climacteric battle of Issus (333 BCE), and resorted to prayers, “calling on Thetis, Nereus and the Nereids, nymphs of the sea, and invoking Poseidon the sea-god, for whom he ordered a four-horse chariot to be cast into the waves.”

Nereus was known for his truthfulness and virtue:

In Aelian’s natural history, written in the early third century CE, Nereus was also the father of a watery consort of Aphrodite named Nerites who was transformed into “a shellfish with a spiral shell, small in size but of surpassing beauty.”

Nereus was father to Thetis, one of the Nereids, who in turn was mother to the great Greek hero Achilles, and Amphitrite, who married Poseidon.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Nereus, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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She dwelt among the untrodden ways” is a three-stanza poem written by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth in 1798 when he was 28 years old. The verse was first printed in ”Lyrical Ballads”, 1800, a volume of Wordsworth’s and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poems that marked a climacteric in the English Romantic movement. The poem is the best known of Wordsworth’s series of five works which comprise his “Lucy” series, and was a favourite amongst early readers. It was composed both as a meditation on his own feelings of loneliness and loss, and as an ode to the beauty and dignity of an idealised woman who lived unnoticed by all others except by the poet himself. The title line implies Lucy lived unknown and remote, both physically and intellectually. The poet’s subject’s isolated sensitivity expresses a characteristic aspect of Romantic expectations of the human, and especially of the poet’s, condition.

According to the literary critic Kenneth Ober, the poem describes the “growth, perfection, and death” of Lucy. Whether Wordsworth has declared his love for her is left ambivalent, and even whether she had been aware of the poet’s affection is unsaid. However the poet’s feelings remain unrequited, and his final verse reveals that the subject of his affections has died alone. Lucy’s “untrodden ways” are symbolic to the poet of both her physical isolation and the unknown details of her mind and life. In the poem, Wordsworth is concerned not so much with his observation of Lucy, but w

Adapted from the Wikipedia article She dwelt among the untrodden ways, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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”The Derby Mercury, Wednesday 18 August, 1847”

On Thursday the 5th instant, at the quiet village of Wysall, a somewhat remarkable foot-race took place – remarkable, not for the distance run, nor for the speed of the runners, but for the fact that each of them has been running a race with old Time for more than ninety years – one having exceeded his great climacteric 28, the other 33 years. The distance was forty yards. The competitors were – Mr. Wootton Bryans, sen., aged 96, and Mr. John Hogg, aged 91 – the latter winning by just a yard – which so ”nettled” or rather ”mettled” his rival, that he challenged him to jump for a guinea. When this match is to come off, or whether the challenge was accepted, we have not learnt.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Wysall, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article James Prescott Joule, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Citrus trees hybridise very readily – depending on the pollen source, plants grown from a Persian Lime’s seeds can produce fruit similar to grapefruit. Thus all commercial citrus cultivation uses trees produced by grafting the desired fruiting cultivars onto rootstocks selected for disease resistance and hardiness.

The colour of citrus fruits only develops in climates with a (diurnal) cool winter. In tropical regions with no winter, citrus fruits remain green until maturity, hence the tropical “green oranges”. The Persian Lime in particular is extremely sensitive to cool conditions, thus it is not usually exposed to cool enough conditions to develop a mature colour. If they are left in a cool place over winter, the fruits will change colour to yellow.

The terms “ripe” and “mature” are usually used synonymously, but they mean different things. A mature fruit is one that has completed its growth phase. Ripening is the term used to describe the changes that occur within the fruit after it is mature to the beginning of decay. These changes invlove a usually involve starches converting to sugars, a decrease in acids and a softening and change in the fruit’s colour.

Citrus fruits are non-climacteric and respiration slowly declines and the production and release of ethylene is gradual. The fruits do not go through a ripening process in the sense that they become “tree ripe.” Some fruits, for example cherries, physically mature and then continue to ripen on the tree. Other fruits, like pears, are picked when mature

With oranges, colour cannot be used as an indicator of ripeness because sometimes the rinds turn orange long before the oranges are ready to eat. Tasting them is the only way to know whether or not they are ready to eat.

Citrus trees are not generally frost hardy. Mandarin Oranges (”C. reticulata”) tend to be the hardiest of the common ”Citrus” species and can withstand short periods down to as cold as −10 °C, but realistically temperatures not falling below −2 °C are required for successful cultivation. Tangerines, tangors and yuzu can be grown outside even in regions with more marked sub-zero degrees in winter, although this may affect fruit quality. A few hardy hybrids can withstand temperatures well below freezing, but do not produce quality fruit. Lemons can be commercially grown in cooler-summer/moderate-winter coastal Southern California, because sweetness is neither attained nor expected in retail lemon fruit. The related Trifoliate Orange (”Citrus trifoliata”) can survive below −20 °C; its fruit are astringent and inedible unless cooked but a few better-tasting cultivars and hybrids have been developed (see citranges).

The trees thrive in a consistently sunny, humid environment with fertile soil and adequate rainfall or irrigation. Abandoned trees in valleys may suffer, yet survive, the dry summer of Central California’s Inner Coast Ranges. At any age citrus grows well enough with infrequent irrigation in partial shade, but the fruit crop is smaller. Though broadleaved, they are evergreen and do not drop leaves except when stressed. The stems of many varieties have large sharp thorns. The trees flower in the spring, and fruit is set shortly afterward. Fruit begins to ripen in fall or early winter months, depending on cultivar, and develops increasing sweetness afterward. Some cultivars of tangerines ripen by winter. Some, such as the grapefruit, may take up to eighteen months to ripen.

Major commercial citrus growing areas include southern China, the Mediterranean Basin (including southern Spain), South Africa, Australia, the southernmost United States and parts of South America. In the United States, Florida, California, Arizona, and Texas are major producers, while smaller plantings are present in other Sun Belt states.

As ornamental plants

Citrus trees grown in tubs and wintered under cover were a feature of Renaissance gardens, once glass-making technology enabled sufficient expanses of clear glass to be produced. An orangery was a feature of royal and aristocratic residences through the 17th and 18th centuries. The ”Orangerie” at the Palace of the Louvre, 1617, inspired imitations that were not eclipsed until the development of the modern greenhouse in the 1840s. In the United States the earliest surviving orangery is at the Tayloe House, Mount Airy, Virginia. George Washington had an orangery at Mount Vernon.

Some modern hobbyists still grow dwarf citrus in containers or greenhouses in areas where it is too cold to grow it outdoors. Consistent climate, sufficient sunlight, and proper watering are crucial if the trees are to thrive and produce fruit. Compared to many of the usual “green shrubs”, citrus trees better tolerate poor container care. For cooler winter areas, limes and lemons should not be grown, since they are more sensitive to winter cold than other citrus fruits. Hybrids with kumquats (× ”Citrofortunella”) have good cold resistance.

Pests and diseases

”Citrus” plants are very liable to infestation by aphids, whitefly and scale insects (e.g. California red scale). Also rather important are the viral infections to which some of these ectoparasites serve as vectors such as the aphid-transmitted ”Citrus tristeza virus” which when unchecked by proper methods of control is devastating to citrine plantations.

European brown snails (”Helix aspersa”) can be a problem in California, though laying female Khaki Campbell and other Mallard-based ducks can be used for control.

The foliage is also used as a food plant by the larvae of Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species such as the Geometridae Common Emerald (”Hemithea aestivaria”) and Double-striped Pug (”Gymnoscelis rufifasciata”), the Arctiidae Giant Leopard Moth (”Hypercompe scribonia”), ”H. eridanus”, ”H. icasia” and ”H. indecisa”, many species in the family Papilionidae (swallowtail butterflies), and the Black-lyre Leafroller Moth (””Cnephasia” jactatana”)m, a tortrix moth.

Since 2000, the Citrus Leafminer (”Phyllocnistis citrella”) has been a pest in California, boring meandering patterns through leaves.

In eastern Australia, the Bronze-orange Bug (”Musgraveia sulciventris”) can be a major pest of citrus trees, particularly grapefruit. In heavy infestations it can cause flower and fruit drop and general tree stress.

Production

According to UN 2007 data, Brazil, China, the United States, Mexico, India, Spain and Pakistan are the world’s largest citrus-producing countries. Of these, Brazil, the US, and Mexico are the world’s largest producers of oranges, whilst China produces most of the world’s mandarins, and India is the world’s largest producer of lemons and limes.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Citrus, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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