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Citrus family🍊
Rutaceae Juss.
ミカン科
A large family of woody plants distributed from tropical to temperate regions. Approximately 160 genera and 2,100 species are known, including mandarin oranges, lemons, grapefruits, Zanthoxylum (Japanese pepper), and Orixa. Aromatic essential oil glands are characteristic of the entire family. Japan has numerous native and cultivated species.
Key Characteristics
- ●Leaves and bark with essential oil glands (translucent dots), aromatic
- ●Leaves compound or simple (often with winged petioles)
- ●Flowers mostly 4- to 5-merous, usually white
- ●Fruit a berry (hesperidium in citrus), samara, or drupe
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate / Opposite
Leaf type
Simple / Compound
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Shrub / Tree / Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen / Deciduous
Compound type
Ternate / Pinnate / Bipinnate
Leaf dissection
Dissected / Undivided
Stipules
Present / Absent
Aromatic
Aromatic
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
3 petals / 6 petals
Petal fusion
Fused
Ovary position
Superior / Inferior / Half-inferior
Stamen count
3-4 / 5
Plant sex
Dioecious / Hermaphrodite / Monoecious
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Sapindales > Rutaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene (ca. 85–70 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Establishment of essential oil production and its use for insect defense and pollinator attraction
- ・Origin and diversification of citrus (Citrus) in East Asia
- ・Differentiation of Japanese endemic species (Orixa, Phellodendron, etc.)
Plants in Citrus family on this site
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