The Bizzaria of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

(''Citrus medica'' + ''C. aurantium''), which is probably the first graft chimera obtained, is a graft between the

Florentine citron The Florentine citron – citron hybrid of Florence ( it, cedrato di Firenze) – is a very fragrant citrus fruit, which is named after its most known origin of cultivation. Its scientific name is ''Citrus × limonimedica'' 'Florentina' Lush. ...

and

sour orange Bitter orange, Seville orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange is the citrus tree ''Citrus'' × ''aurantium'' and its fruit. It is native to Southeast Asia and has been spread by humans to many parts of the world. It is probably a cross bet ...

. It produces branches of regular Florentine citron including such leaves, and from the other side branches of sour orange. The middle shoot mixes characteristics of both and the fruit exhibits characteristics of both the citron and orange. Graft chimerism contrasts with somatic hybridization which is due to

plant sexuality Plant reproductive morphology is the study of the physical form and structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction. Among all living organisms, flowers, which are the reproductive s ...

; its offspring is intermediate, showing influences of both parental plants. The Florentine Bizzaria, on the other hand, displays an unusual fruit which distinctly expresses characteristics from each plant in close proximity. The plant's name has a number of different spellings, e.g. Bizaria, Bizzarria, Bizarria, and even Bizarre.

Discovery

The Bizzaria was discovered in 1640 by Pietro Nati at the

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

named ''Torre degli Agli'', which belonged to the wealthy ''Panciatichi'' banking family. The Bizzaria was thought to be lost but was rediscovered in the 1970s by Paolo Galleotti, the head gardener of the

Villa di Castello The Villa di Castello, near the hills bordering Florence, Tuscany, central Italy, was the country residence of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1519-1574). The gardens, filled with fountains, statuary, and a grotto, became famous thro ...

and of the Boboli Gardens in Florence.

References

External links

The Bizzaria Story

Hereditary Journal

Charles Darwin about the Bizzaria
{{Citrus Citrus Graft chimeras

Discovery

See also

References

External links