Citrus taxonomy
All of these hybrids have in turn been bred back with their parent stocks or with other pure or hybrid citrus to form a broad array of fruits. Naming of these is inconsistent, with some bearing a variant of the name of one of the parents or simply another citrus with superficially-similar fruit, a distinct name, or a portmanteau of ancestral species. The Ponderosa lemon ("Citrus limon" × "medica") and Florentine citron ("Citrus x limonimedica") are both true lemon/citron hybrids, the Bergamot orange is a sweet orange/lemon hybrid and the Oroblanco is a grapefruit/pomelo mix, while tangelos are tangerine (mandarin)/pomelo or mandarin/grapefruit hybrids, orangelos result from grapefruit backcrossed with sweet orange, and a sweet orange backcrossed with a tangerine gives the tangor. One lumia, a member of the sweet lemons, is the product of crossing a lemon with a pomelo/citron hybrid, though another lumia variety, the Pomme d'Adam, is a micrantha/citron cross, like the Key lime. The most common and commercially popular 'limes', the Persian limes, are Key lime/lemon hybrids that combine the genetic lineages of four ancestral citrus species: mandarin, pomelo, citron and micrantha.
Citrus production
While the origin of citrus fruits cannot be precisely identified, researchers believe they began to appear in Southeast Asia at least 4,000 BC. From there, they slowly spread to northern Africa, mainly through migration and trade. During the period of the Roman Empire demand by higher-ranking members of society, along with increased trade, allowed the fruits to spread to southern Europe. Citrus fruits spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, and were then brought to the Americas by Spanish explorers. Worldwide trade in citrus fruits didn't appear until the 20th century and trade in orange juice developed as late as 1940.