Scientific Name : Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.
Common Name : Pomelo, Pummelo
Chinese Name : 柚子
Family : RUTACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species
| Origins | Northern Myanmar. |
|---|---|
| Meanings of name | The specific epithet maxima means ‘the biggest’, referring to its rather sizable fruit when compared with other Citrus spp. |
| Application |
Being one of the global available fruit trees, Pomelo’s fruit is valued for its copious nutrient content which is constituted mainly by vitamins C and B, carotenoids, flavonoids and other secondary products. Other than eating it fresh, the fruits can be also processed into salads, desserts and beverages. Its leaves are densely covered with oil glands and are aromatic when crushed. The Chinese people get used to taking a bath with pomelo leaves in Lunar New Year to ward off evil from last year. |
| A brief insight on the diversity of Citrus | Citrus is a large genus of 20 species. Due to the drastic hybridization and selection events, the phylogenetic status of the genus is far more complicated than expected and has confused scientists for ages. Under the intractable development of biotechnology, it has opened avenues to disentangle the mystery of Citrus from a genomic perspective. A recent genomic study suggests that the current Citrus species could be derived from C. linczangensis, a primitive Citrus species whose fossil specimen was found in southeast foothills of the Himalayas. Following the data, C. linczangensis is suspected to experience rapid speciation events during the late Miocene, and evolved into C. reticulata (mandarins), C. maxima (pummelo) and C. medica (citrons), that were distributed respectively in northeastern India, northern Myanmar and northwestern Yunnan. The three progenitors of Citrus were further hybridized spontaneously or anthropogenically into e.g. lemon (a hybrid of sour orange and citron), sweet orange (a hybrid of pomelo and mandarin) and Grape Fruit (a hybrid of pomelo and sweet orange). |
| Growing habit | Evergreen tree. |
|---|---|
| Height | To 10 m. |
| Stems | Bark brown, smooth. Branchlets flat and ridged, densely pubescent, spiny or not. |
| Leaves | Unifoliate compound alternate. Petioles winged. Blade thick leathery, densely pubescent when young, adaxially dark green, yellow glands on both surfaces, broad-ovate to elliptic, base rounded, apex obtuse or rounded, entire. |
| Flowers | Hermaphroditic. Racemes axillary, or rarely solitary, fragrant. Petals 4-5, pale purplish red or milky white, stamens many, style thick and long. |
| Fruits | Hesperidia globose to broadly conical, pericarp thick and spongy, turning green to pale yellow when mature. |
| Flowering period | April to May in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | September to December in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website :
https://herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=11340
Scientific names from other databases
― Flora of China : Citrus maxima (Burman) Merrill.
― Plants of the World Online : Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.