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A ternary plot of citrus geneology(jlauf.com)
137 points by jlauf 3 days ago | 25 comments
interroboink 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I recently learned about the fact that Sichuan peppercorns are actually related to citrus, so was looking for where the connection is... As it turns out[1], there is a "citrus family" (Rutaceae[2]) and a citrus genus (Citrus[3], in that family). The Sichuan plant is a member of the family, but not the genus (that would be Zanthoxylum[4]). Confusing!

  [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47248319
  [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutaceae
  [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus
  [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanthoxylum
Also, this is a pretty good page on citrus (both family and genus): https://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/citrus.html
jihadjihad 14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

A Persian lime is a cross between a Key lime and a lemon? I never would have guessed that, that's really interesting.

CamelCaseCondo 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

During lockdown I started growing clementine from seed. One of the interesting details of this genus is polyembryonism: multiple seedlings emerging from one seed. Apparently, one of the seedlings will be a clone of the motherplant and the rest will be the product of pollination/genetic reshuffling. My clementine seeds all had 2 seedlings per seed but other attempts (with lemon I think) yielded 3 or more).

During my reading I came across a lot of contradictory info about the origin of the clementine: some papers say it’s an unknown hybrid, other clearly state it’s a mutation instead of a hybrid. So it’s interesting to read the hybrid parentage in this triangle, stated with confidence.

seszett 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Polyembryony is the reverse of what you think: one embryo is a result of pollination and all the others are clones. The sexual reproduction embryo is often less vigorous and sometimes doesn't develop at all. It makes it easy to reproduce "true" plants, but also makes it difficult to produce hybrids for some species.

riffraff 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Chinotto (apparently called mirtle leaves bitter orange in English?) also has some confused origin (perhaps it's a mutation of some other bitter orange, but it's unclear), and afaict it's not in this chart, or I can't find it.

Citrus fruits are fun.

fritzo 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Inheritance is astonishingly more complex than trees, e.g.

Wong et al. (2024) "A general and efficient representation of ancestral recombination graphs" https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyae100

jlauf 8 hours ago | parent [-]

Interesting, going to read more!

ok_dad 14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is cool! I do wish I could search for a specific citrus by name.

jlauf 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Thanks! I'll add it when I get a chance.

contubernio 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Couldn't find blood oranges (sanguina in Spanish). Curious to know where they fit.

lameda 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is very cool, thank you for building it! I remember reading about the mess of citrus genealogy in John McPhee's Oranges (wonderful book).

smlacy 13 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Seems to be missing the Etrog? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_taxonomy#Citrons

Also, the "click to show search results" is cool but fails for "Arizona Citron" in obvious ways.

jsmith99 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I assume the esrog is the primeval citron but I've noticed that Jewish tradition (which rejects the use of hybrid citrons) allows some surprisingly different citrons in practice, popularly associated with Israel, Morocco, Yemen, Corfu etc. These differ considerably in eg rind thickness.

jlauf 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There are lots of citruses missing; the ones in the chart are only the ones I could find reliable values for (from the sources at the bottom). I'll add more if I can find other reliable sources. For what it's worth, I think the etrog is basically a pure citron variety.

Yeah, that's definitely an issue. If I get a chance, I'll curate images to add!

s0rce 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think the etrog is not a hybrid so it would overlap with the citron

madcaptenor 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Apparently it's also known as the Greek citron, but I don't see it under that name either.

pazimzadeh 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I couldn't find the Seville orange, or what Iranians call Narang

Nevermind, they have the "Sevillan Sour Orange" and a few other sour oranges

Fordec 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Also appears to be missing Yuzu and Sudachi

hammock 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Missing kumquats (and calamondins and mandarinquats)

s0rce 9 hours ago | parent [-]

they discuss that, they were not hybridized to the same extent. They do discuss the key lime ancestry as orthogonal, it would be cool to use a tetrahedron instead to show that.

davidw 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Now I wish I could try all of these.

s0rce 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

There is an annual citrus festival in Riverside, CA where many hybrids are developed.

wgrover 7 hours ago | parent [-]

Yes! And every day the California Citrus State Historic Park is open for tours and tasting of various citrus varieties:

https://www.californiacitruspark.com

dheera 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Just walk around San Jose residential neighborhoods, all the combinations are literally dropping everywhere.

cwmoore 11 hours ago | parent [-]

There was a great pomelo tree around the corner from me a few years back.