The false oranges are a group of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the ''

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

'' genus, within the family,

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Der ...

. They are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to New Caledonia. Though previously viewed as members of ''Citrus'', Swingle moved the false oranges into their own genus, ''Oxanthera''. He placed the genus within the Triphasiinae subtribe of Citreae based on the similar size of their fruit. However, subsequent

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analysis showed them to cluster in the Citrinae subtribe within the same clade as Swingle's genus '' Clymenia'' and the

Australian lime Australian limes are species of the plant genus ''Citrus'' that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. These species were formerly included in the genera ''Microcitrus'' and ''Eremocitrus''. They have been used as a food source by indigeno ...

s, as members of an enlarged monophyletic ''Citrus'', with the suggested relegation of the ''Oxanthera'' taxon as a ''Citrus'' subgenus. Bayer observed the presence of prominent pulp vesicles in the false oranges, and that their flowers had three to four times as many stamens as petals in their flowers, are both traits similar to other ''Citrus''. The false orange lacks the thorns typical of the ''Citrus'' genus, a difference often seen on islands without endiginous herbivores. Species include:GRIN Species Records of ''Oxanthera''.
Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).
University of California, Riverside. * '' Citrus oxanthera'' — orange flower oxanthera * '' Citrus neocaledonica'' — large-leaf oxanthera * '' Citrus undulata'' — wavy-leaf oxanthera * '' Oxanthera brevipes'' (status pending)

References

Aurantioideae Endemic flora of New Caledonia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Rutaceae-stub