Fruit Science Report
Washington Navel Oranges
Introduction
In as far as appearances are concerned, the Washington Navel orange happens to have a rounded shape and is small to medium in size. One of the many distinguishing features of this particular tree are the white flowers which are scented. The canopy of the tree also appears droopy. In mid winder, the tree supplies seedless oranges that are rather tasty – making this particular variety ideal as either a commercial venture or as a past-time activity in a home orchid setting. It is important to note that the flesh of the fruit is firm and has a distinguishing deep color. The taste of the fruit could also be described as tangy and distinctly sweet. The Washington Navel orange, according to Ramsey and Markell (1920) “originated at Bahia, Brazil, apparently as a bud variation from the Portuguese orange variety, Laranja Selecta” (22). As the authors further point out, it is the early Portuguese settlers and explorers who are believed to have introduced the said Portuguese orange variety to Brazil. It was, however, not until the 1870 that William O. Saunder received the Washington Navel orange from Australia for prompt propagation and distribution. This particular tree had been introduced to Australia 11 years earlier. The propagating of the tree and the subsequent distribution to two pilot states, i.e. Florida and California took place upon its receipt at the United States Department of Agriculture. At the time, Saunder was the U.S. Agriculture Department’s gardens superintendent. In the words of Ramsey and Markell (1920), some of the Washington Navel orange cuttings “were transplanted to Riverside, California in 1873 and started producing sweet, juicy, seedless fruit that had crisp texture and an easy to peel skin” (89).
The history of the Washington Navel orange would largely be incomplete without the mention of Eliza Tibbets. Tibbets was a recipient of the trees sent to California. Those sent to Florida failed to flourish. To a large extent, as it has been pointed out elsewhere in this text, the climate of California was ideal for the tree’s culture. In the words of Ferguson and Grafton-Cardwell (2014), “it is believed that Tibbets received and planted three trees in his dooryard, located near the present junction of Central and Palm Avenues, two of which survived and became sources of budwood a few years later” (113). In that regard, therefore, it is these trees in the dooryard that ended up feeding the navel-orange industry in California.
In essence, the Washington Navel orange comes from the Rutaceae family and the Citrus genus. On the other hand, in as far as species is concerned, the Washington Navel orange happens to be a Sinensis. The tree grows to a height of approximately 6 to 30 feet – but with the dwarf variety reaching a maximum height of only 8 feet. Commercially, Washington Navel oranges could be found in California, Florida, and Arizona states of the U.S. Outside of the U.S., the tree is found in relative abundance in Egypt and Brazil where it is also grown commercially. In California, the San Joaquin Valley regions happens to be the primary Washington Navel orange growing area. El-Boray, Mostafa, Salem, and Sawwah (2015) point out that although the tree happens to be a key income source...
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