Post #120991 by Gigantalope on Thu, Oct 21, 2004 10:15 PM

Citrus got it's name (genus name) from a confusion between the large, rough skinned Citron, which was the original lemon, and the greenish yellow cones of the Cedars of Lebanon, which actually look very similar.

Also the Citron trees, and the Cedar trees were both evergreen, about the same size and similar enough in appearance and foilage that further confusion was inevitable. The Greeks called the Citron "Kedromelon" or Cedar Apple, the Romans turned this into Malum Citrump, and applied this term, often shortening it's meaning citreum, to all varieties of citrus.

In the second century, the writer Apuleius, objected. He had been born in Africa, and knew a cedar cone from an lemon or orange, but in the eighteenth century the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, made the name "Citrus" official for the genus. So now Lemons, Limes, Citrons, Oranges, Grapefruit, and Tangerines are all grouped under the incorrect name that means Cedar.