Bouquet de Fleurs sour orange

Citrus aurantium L.

CRC 571
PI 539174
VI 589

Source

Received as budwood from hedge in rear of building of Old Citrus Experiment Station, Rubidoux, Ca, 1914.

Parentage/origins

Parents unknown. The trees are reported to have originally come from Florida.

Rootstocks of accession

Yuma Ponderosa lemon

Season of ripeness at Riverside

January to March

Notes and observations

11/1928, Tanaka: This variety is used by the French where the flowers are used in the manufacturing of perfume.

1985, EMN: This accession had exocortis, removed by shoot tip grafting.

1/26/1990, EMN: Fruit similar to standard & other sours but somewhat smaller and not quite as well colored. Medium thick rind; flesh orange, juicy, few seeds, very sour.

OJB: Bouquet de Fleurs is a sour orange variety planted primarily as an ornamental. The tree has a low spreading umbrella shape. The mature foliage is dense and bright green, and the new growth is lighter green giving the tree an attractive appearance. Because of its low growth habit, it is sometimes used as a hedge. The fruit is small to medium in size, somewhat oblate in shape, and has a rough orange rind. The low-seeded fruits mature in winter and hold very well on the tree. Bouquet de Fleurs fruits are bitter and acidic and typically are not consumed.

2/11/2008 OJB, TS & DK: There's a row of Bouquet de Fleurs in front of one of the residence halls at UC-R.

Description from The Citrus Industry Vol. 1 (1967)

"This heavy-flowering variety constitutes an attractive ornamental in California, lending itself especially well to use as a hedge plant. In California, it is characterized by small tree size with a spreading top consisting of thornless branchlets with short internodes (brachytic in nature) and dense clustered foliage. The leaves are small, oval, and round or blunt-pointed with short wingless petioles. The fruits are small, somewhat oblate, moderately pebbled and well-colored, with medium-thick rind, solid axis, and few seeds. Chapot (1964a) considers this to be the old most Bigaradier Riche Dépouille of Risso and Poiteau (1818)."