Sweet orange is a small, shallow-rooted evergreen shrub or tree growing about 6 - 13 metres tall with an enclosed conical top and mostly spiny branches.
Very well-known fruit, widely available worldwide. Commonly cultivated for its fruit in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical zones.
Prefers prominent change in seasons, less suited to tropics, more as garden tree there; widely grown commercially in subtropics.

Known Hazards

None known

Habitat

Original habitat is obscure, possibly an introgressed hybrid of C. maxima x C. reticulata.

Cultivation Status

Cultivated

Cultivation Details

A shallow rooted plant, prefers deep, well-drained but moisture-retentive loamy soil in full sun.
Intolerant of waterlogging. pH 5 - 6.
Moderately heavy loam with compost, sand in sunny position.
Tolerates pH 4.3 - 8.3.
Do not use manure.
When watering pot plants, avoid overwatering or underwatering.
Three climates suitable for citrus: tropical, subtropical with winter rain, semitropical with summer rainfall.
Optimal temperatures 25 - 30°C, growth ceases below 13°C, above 38°C.
If dry periods exceed three months, irrigation needed.
Flowers sweetly scented.
Plants dislike root disturbance.

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw. Sweet, juicy, delicious.
Juice extracted and sold, used in jellies, ice cream.
Dried, pulverized fruits for baked goods.
Orange, reddish-green to yellowish-green fruit, round, 4 - 12cm diameter.
Source of vitamin C.
Essential oil from peel for flavoring drinks, desserts, gum.
Pectin from peel as setting agent.
Rind candied, used in cakes, marmalade.
Flowers cooked as vegetable, made into tea.
Oil from seeds used as cooking oil.

Medicinal

Citrus species rich in vitamin C, flavonoids, acids, volatile oils.
Contains coumarins like bergapten which sensitizes skin to sunlight, added to tanning preparations.
Recent applications as antioxidants, chemical exfoliants in cosmetics.
Fruit appetizer, blood purifier.
Allays thirst in fevers, treats catarrh.
Fruit juice treats bilious affections, bilious diarrhea.
Fruit rind carminative, tonic.
Fresh rind on face for acne.
Dried peel treats anorexia, colds, coughs.
Decoction of leaves with salt for digestive ailments, nerve disorders, fever, asthma, blood pressure, fatigue, vomiting.
Crushed leaves or fruit juice on skin relieves itching.
Fruit juice or leaf decoction with sugar for cold, loss of appetite; crushed leaf decoction bath for headache, rheumatism.
Macerated root, leaf, or fruit mesoderm for urethritis.
Macerated fruit mesoderm or bark decoction for liver ailments.
Broken bones massaged with roasted fruit.
Leaf oil carminative, light antispasmodic, sedative.

Agroforestry Uses

None Recorded

Other Uses

Semi-drying oil from seed used in soap making.
Essential oil from peel for food flavoring, perfumery, medicines.
Leaves, flowers contain fine oils for cosmetics.
Potential firewood source.
Wood for boards, paneling.

Propagation

Seed best sown in containers as soon as ripe, rinsed.
Store seed sown in containers as soon as possible.
Germination usually within 2 - 3 weeks at 13°C.
Seedlings prone to damp off, water carefully, ventilate well.
Polyembryonic seed, genetically identical to parent, usually virus-free.
Prick seedlings into pots when 10cm or more tall, plant in permanent positions.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in frame. Grows easily from cuttings.