Plant · P-417

Citron

Citrus medica

Citron is one of the ancestral species behind the entire cultivated citrus group, grown for its thick, heavily pithed rind rather than its juice - the rind is candied for cakes, puddings and confectionery or cooked into marmalade, while improved selections yield enough juice for drinks and desserts. It's the tenderest of all citrus, with fruit killed at -2 C and leaves at -9 C, but at 8 to 15 ft it's small enough to grow in a tub kept under cover, and it bears young, at 2 to 3 years, far quicker to a first crop than grapefruit. Sound unblemished fruit also carries a standing ritual market as the etrog of the Jewish autumn festival of Sukkot, priced well above its food value.