Citron
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The Citron (Citrus medica) is a species of citrus fruit. It is characterized by its thick rind and small sections. Generally, it is eaten preserved or in bakery goods, such as fruitcakes. (The candied peel rather than the fruit is often used in cooking.)
The citron was the first of the citrus known to the Romans. Pliny's Natural History gives an account of the tree (HN xii.7) that some called the Assyrian, others the Median "apple" (the generic Greco-Roman name for globose fruits). In Pliny's time the fruit was never eaten (it began to be used in cooking by the early 2nd century), but its intense perfume was used, penetrating clothes to repel noxious insects (compare Citronella). According to Pliny, attempts to grow the Citron in pots for its medicinal properties were unsuccessful.
The citron is known as the etrog (Hebrew: אֶתְרֹג) by religious Jews, who wave it ritually as one of the Four Species during the holiday of Sukkot each fall.
In many languages other than English, a normal lemon is called a "citron" and a lime is called a "limon".
Although the East Asian citrus fruit yuzu (also called yuja) is sometimes called a citron, it is actually a separate species, Citrus junos.
See also
- Buddha's hand, a type of citron
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