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The citrus fruits of today are all descended from four promiscuous ancestors. The citron, pomelo, pepeda, and mandarin have all garnered attention for high "sexual compatibility" (yes, that's the scientific term) between citrus and related genera. This is why citrus has attracted so much research interest for the last 250 years. Hubba hubba! 

Mouth-puckering citrus was also talked about in ancient Chinese documents, including the first reference to it in about 2200 BC, in "Tribute to Yu" where it is listed as one of the tributes sent to the mythical Emperor Yu.

More recently, James Earl Jones waxed poetic about this fruit, calling it a fruit worthy of the gods by saying: "In the wintertime, in snow country, citrus fruit was so rare, and if you got one, it was better than ambrosia."

What's your first memory of citrus?

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