Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-420
Hardy Orange
Citrus trifoliata
Hardy Orange is by far the most cold-hardy member of the citrus group, shedding its leaves in winter as part of what buys it that extra hardiness, and it doubles as the standard rootstock used to add cold resistance to tenderer citrus grafted onto it. Its 1 in thorns on green, striped twigs make an excellent impenetrable hedge, and the bitter, acrid fruit still yields juice rich in vitamin C for marmalade once stored a couple of weeks. It self-sows freely by animal-dispersed seed and can colonise woodland, forest edges, fence rows and urban green space if left unchecked - useful vigour where a thorny stock-proof hedge is the goal, less so where it isn't, so pick the fruit before seed drops and mow or graze the margin to catch seedlings small.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Sub-Canopy- Soil pH
- Not yet recorded
- Plant type
- Deciduous Tree
- Mature height
- 8–20 ft
- Mature spread
- 6–15 ft
- Plant spacing
- 6–24 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Allegheny Chinquapin
Castanea pumila
Allegheny Chinquapin is a chestnut that grows as a spreading, thicket-forming shrub instead of a single trunk, sending up new stems from…
Sub-Canopy · USDA 5–9
Allegheny Serviceberry
Amelanchier laevis
Allegheny Serviceberry is a multi-trunked small tree grown mainly for its sweet, iron-and-copper-rich berries, up to 18 millimeters across,…
Sub-Canopy · USDA 4–8
Ashe Juniper
Juniperus ashei
Ashe juniper is a slow-growing, densely branched evergreen conifer of rocky, limestone canyons and outcrops, capable of living two to three…
Sub-Canopy · USDA 6–9
Banana Plantain
Musa balbisiana
This is a wild, heavily seeded banana from eastern and south Asian forests, not a true plantain - most cooking plantains are hybrids that…
Sub-Canopy · USDA 8–11
Bay Laurel
Laurus nobilis
Dioecious and slow from seed with erratic germination so propagation is by half-ripe cuttings or air-layering. Stays where planted with no…
Sub-Canopy · USDA 8–10
Black Locust
Robinia pseudoacacia
Black Locust is a fast-growing nitrogen-fixing tree whose wood is so rot-resistant that a fence post cut from it can stand in the ground for…
Sub-Canopy · USDA 3–8
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference