Editing Citron (section)

=== Theophrastus ===
The following description on citron was given by [[Theophrastus]]<ref>''Historia plantarum'' 4.4.2–3 (''exc.'' Athenaeus ''Deipnosophistae'' 3.83.d-f); cf. Vergil ''Georgics'' 2.126-135; Pliny ''Naturalis historia'' 12.15,16.</ref>
[[File:A species of citrus fruit (Citrus sarcodactylis Hort. Bog.); Wellcome V0042687.jpg|thumb|Illustration of [[fingered citron]] with the leaves and thorns that are common to all varieties of citron]]
<blockquote>In the east and south there are special plants ... i.e. in Media and Persia there are many types of fruit, between them there is a fruit called Median or Persian Apple. The tree has a leaf similar to and almost identical with that of the ''andrachn'' (''[[Arbutus andrachne]]'' L.), but has [[Thorns, spines, and prickles|thorns]] like those of the ''[[apios]]'' (the wild [[pear]], ''Pyrus amygdaliformis'' Vill.) or the [[firethorn]] (''Cotoneaster pyracantha'' Spach.), except that they are white, smooth, sharp and strong. The fruit is not eaten, but is very fragrant, as is also the [[leaf]] of the tree; and the fruit is put among [[clothes]], it keeps them from being [[moth]]-eaten. It is also useful when one has drunk deadly poison, for when it is administered in [[wine]]; it upsets the [[stomach]] and brings up the poison. It is also useful to improve the [[breath]], for if one boils the inner part of the fruit in a dish or squeezes it into the mouth in some other medium, it makes the breath more pleasant.

The seed is removed from the fruit and sown in the [[Spring (season)|spring]] in carefully tilled beds, and it is watered every fourth or fifth day. As soon the plant is strong it is [[Transplanting|transplanted]], also in the spring, to a soft, well watered site, where the soil is not very fine, for it prefers such places.

And it bears its fruit at all [[season]]s, for when some have gathered, the flower of the others is on the tree and is ripening others. Of the [[flower]]s I have said<ref>''Historia plantarum'' 1.13.4.</ref> those that have a sort of distaff [meaning the [[carpel|pistil]]] projecting from the middle are fertile, while those that do not have this are sterile. It is also sown, like [[date palm]]s, in pots punctured with holes.

This tree, as has been remarked, grows in Media and Persia.</blockquote>