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Poncirus trifoliata |
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| | It blooms, it blooms! |
| 
| | Quite the sight after a december ice storm |
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| | Those thorns mean business! |
| Synonym(s) |
Citrus trifoliata |
| Common name |
trifoliate orange |
| Family |
rutaceae |
| Life cycle |
tree |
| Flowers |
white (May) |
| Size |
10-20' |
Wrinkly yellow sour oranges are only part of this small tree's attraction. The ferocious spines appeal as well, especially to the sadistic set. If Sleeping Beauty had been guarded by a forest of these, Prince Charming would have had to turn back! The really cool variety is the contorted 'Flying Dragon', but ours is a standard species. This year, after several years of only spines, we saw our first flowers.
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| | For all the ferociousness of the thorns, the developing fuzzy fruit are downright cute! |
| 
| | and the mature fruit is eye-catching, radiating golden yellow amid the glossy leaves. |
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Sliced open, you can see that the fruit is heavy on seeds. Something in the juice or resins in the peel is surprisingly gummy, clinging to the knife that sliced it even through some good scrubbing.
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| | Bark is streaked tan-and-green |
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We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. About my plant portraits
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