Bizzarria of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

(''Citrus medica'' + ''C. aurantium''), which is probably the first

graft chimera In horticulture, a graft-chimaera may arise in grafting at the point of contact between rootstock and scion and will have properties intermediate between those of its "parents". Unlike graft hybrids, a graft-chimaera is not a true hybrid but a mixt ...

obtained, is a graft between the

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

and

sour orange The bitter orange, sour orange, Seville orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange is the hybrid citrus tree species ''Citrus'' × ''aurantium'', and its fruit. It is native to Southeast Asia and has been spread by humans to many parts of th ...

. 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 ...

; its offspring is intermediate, showing influences of both parental plants. The Florentine Bizzarria, 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, Bizzaria, Bizzarria, Bizarria, and even Bizarre.

Discovery

Bizzarria was discovered between 1640 and 1644 at the

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

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

References

External links

The Bizzarria Story

Hereditary Journal

Charles Darwin about the Bizzarria
* Book about the Bizzarria https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0LExKMs2orMg1YPQSTc_JVEhMLyrNzVRISc1UyE1NyUzOBADtFgy9&q=gli+agrumi+dei+medici&oq=gli+agrumi+dei+me&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEC4YgAQyCggAEAAY4wIYgAQyBwgBEC4YgAQyBggCEEUYOTIKCAMQABiABBiiBDIKCAQQABiiBBiJBTIKCAUQABiABBiiBDIKCAYQABiABBiiBDIGCAcQRRg80gEINDM2MmowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 {{Citrus Citrus hybrids Graft chimeras 1640 in Italy 1640 beginnings Italian inventions 17th century in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany Economy of Florence 1640s introductions

Discovery

See also

References

External links