Plants of the Bible: Citron

Citrus Medica, Citron,
Etrog, عورزم نوميل, אֶתְרוֹג


Scientific name:		Citrus medica L.
Common name:		Citron
Hebrew name:		אתרוג, etrog
Arabic name:		عورزم نوميل, Leimoon-Mazroo’a
Plant Family:		Rutaceae, פיגמיים


Life form:		Tree
Stems:		Up to 3 m
Leaves:		Alternate, elliptic-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, obtuse to rounded, serrate-crenate margins
Flowers:		White inside, purplish outside
Fruits / pods:		Hesperidium (a fruit with sectioned pulp inside a separable rind); 8-10 cm; ovoid to oblong, peel:yellow to green, rough tuberculate, thick; greenish pulp; acid, bitter juice
Flowering Period:		January, September, October
Habitat:		Light soils
Distribution:		Cultivated
Chorotype:		Origin is unknown
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Derivation of the botanical name:

Citrus, Latin name for some fruit, which includes oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit.

medica, healing, curative; medicinal.
The Hebrew name: אתרוג, etrog, from Old Persian ترنج‎ (toronj), Arabic تُرُنْج‎ (turunj), أُتْرُجّ‎ (ʾutrujj), from Aramaic תְּרוֹגָא‎ (tərōḡā), אֶתְרוֹגָא‎ (ʾeṯrōḡā).

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

The origin of the citron is unknown, but it was the first cultivated citrus fruit, with records dating back to 4000 BCE.
It was a common fruit in the Mediterranean region at the time of the Bible and it is mentioned only once, as one of the four species used in a waving ritual during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. Leviticus 23:40 refers to the etrog as pri etz hadar (פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר), which literally means, “a fruit of the beautiful tree.” The other species are the lulav (date palm frond), hadass (myrtle bough), and aravah (willow branch). Goodly Trees – In the Talmud (Ṣukkāh 35a) this is explained to be the Citrus medica. Bible Resources: