Trifoliate Orange

Citrus trifoliata Origin: East Asia (via Philadelphia) Improvement status: Unknown Seeds per packet: ~8 BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED Life cycle: Perennial Trifoliate orange is the most cold-hardy citrus fruit species. While native to China and Korea, it is well-adapted to much of the United States, thriving from USDA Zones 6 to 10 (with some individuals even able to handle chilly Zone 5 winters, surviving temperatures as low as -15 degrees Fahrenheit). The plants are well-known in many urban and suburban landscapes for their vicious-looking thorns, which can reach lengths of two inches or longer, and for their ping-pong-ball-sized slightly-fuzzy yellow fruits. The relatively inconspicuous three-lobed leaves resembles slenderer versions of other citrus leaves. The white flowers are fragrant and beautiful.While most people think of trifoliate orange as little more than an ornamental curiosity (or perhaps an imposing, impenetrable hedge plant), it is both edible in its own ri