Citrus aurantium 'Bizzarria'
PALERMO BOTANICAL GARDENS
Palermo Citrus Bizzarria. Immature fruit
Mature fruit - possibly from Bizzarria tree
June is not a good time to study citrus fruit. The tree marked Bizzarria had small immature fruit about 3cms diameter. They had none of the corrugations I expected from the true Bizzarria chimera, such as the one grown at the Villa Medici in Florence.
The mature fruit shown was lying on the ground in the vicinity of the Bizzarria tree, but I cannot be certain that it fell from it - there were plenty of other varieties nearby.
See The Bizzarria Story for full details of this historic variety
For other possible Bizzarria specimens see: The Medici Citrus Collection and Palais Carnoles, Menton
It is interesting to note that the 1899 catalogue of citrus plants in the garden (download PDF here) does not mention Bizzarria, although it is included in the list of 1875 which is referred to in the same publication
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page created 26th July 2009