6.15.2009
Tangerines
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Did you know tangerines got their name from Tangier, Morocco? This was the port from which they were shipped to Europe. Cultivation goes back 3000 years to China, as tangerines are really a variety of mandarin orange. My tree is 22 feet tall and has about 120 ripe fruit on it now, even though it's off season. They're perfect. Right next to it is a yew tree. There are 5 or 6 good staves that could be broken off and shaped into longbows. This is the tree (in the Pacific yew variety) that is used to make the cancer drug Paclitaxel - an effective treatment for breast cancer.
Labels: mandarin, morocco, orange, tangerine, tangier, yew
