Sour Orange or Bitter Orange or Seville Orange is Citrus x aurantium (subsp. amara according to some, amara meaning bitter). They are the same citrus and the extent to which the different varieties may differ is similar to the difference between Washington and Valencia sweet oranges for example. Different cultivars of course exist but they are the same citrus tree. All of them produce bitter-sour round fruit, with more or less coarse rind which becomes deep orange in maturity (at least when grown in a med type climate). and pale yellow--greenish pulp. The leaves have a pronounced elongated petiole and the tree usually carries some long thorns on the more vigorous shoots. Bitterness is extremely pronounced so the name 'sour orange' is kind of a misnomer. Yes they are sour but most of all they are bitter. The fruit is inedible when raw regardless of the level of maturity. They have a distinctive perfume both in the rind and in the leaves which cannot be confused for other citrus. This is what has been used for rootstock for centuries and for English 'Orange' Marmalade. I don't know what might be called sour orange in the Americas but if it is not what I have described it is not Sour Orange. Not every sour tasting 'orange' is a Sour Orange. The name 'Seville Orange' is of course an old name the English importers gave it a long time ago and may now be a legally protected name. But this is just a commercial issue. In Greek the name for the tree 'nerantzia' has the same roots as naranja and aurantium. The trees were introduced in the Med region before sweet orange was. Bergamot is really a different citrus, most probably a cross between SO and a limetta (which gave it its distinctive flavour). In the East Med we grow sour limettas which carry the same perfume as Bergamot orange but look like lemons or citron.

Thanks Nik for your thoughts. "1. Early maturity. Trees become productive fast" I would say air layers will do that the fastest. You can even air layer with fruits on it. "2. Not all stocks are good in all and the same conditions" For containers it should not matter that much - would it? I thought it would matter for in-ground plants. Many desired varieties are weak on their own roots and it would make sense to graft. But grafted sour orange, calamondin, etc makes less sense to me in a container. "3, Bulk propagation from buds. Hundreds of trees can be produced from one mature mother plant each season." No argument with that. I stated the same.

I have a hyper kaffir lime tree- about 12 feet tall and 9 feet wide- is what i keep it trimmed to I use it mainly for the lime zest which i freeze and the leaves which i use fresh or frozen or dried ( when i trim it i get about 4 bushels of leaves). I am looking for a larah orange - another sour orange used to make curacao and also as an adjunct for the Seville in making a sour orange pie- much like key lime. Any help would be appreciated. It seems like all of these "odd" fruits that make wonderful marinades and sauces and flavoring agents are deprecated - not to be found anywhere in markets - which is why i started the kaffir lime tree.

Dave I cut my buds off while still on the scion donor tree. For T-Budding I use a razor blade and I sterilize with 10% bleach to water. I use a tooth brush to scrub my finger tips and under the finger nails. I then use alcohol to further de-oil my fingers and nails. I used my finger nails to lift the bark. Cut my time from 15 minutes to 1 minute. Very Clean fingernails is the trick for me. Bob! There will be NO army of citrus trees here. I am just using up the last few root stock seedlings and giving some of them to friends. Thanks anyway for the vote of confidence Steve