Grapefruit's origins are shrouded in mystery. The juicy fruit previously was known as "forbidden fruit" and thought to be an orange. A grapefruit by any name is alluring.
Citrus x paradisi is commonly known as grapefruit. The grapefruit is in the family Rutaceae, which, among other traits, typically have strongly scented leaves and four- or five-petaled flowers.
It is in the genus Citrus, which is appreciated for attractively evergreen leaves, large white flowers and pulp sharply flavored with citric acid.
Its species name of paradisi honors its long-standing tradition as “forbidden fruit” of the Caribbean.
The sunshine state was the point of entry for the exotic plant on North America's continental soil. From Florida, cultivation leapfrogged to Arizona, California and Texas. Cultivation even spread to Puerto Rico, as detailed in the novel The Flamboyant by Lori Marie Carlson (born 1957), author, editor, teacher, translator and wife of Oscar Jerome Hijuelos (born August 24, 1951), educator, novelist and recipient of the first Pulitzer Prize to be awarded to an Hispanic. But economic and political interests concluded that production was not profitable for the Commonwealth.
Abandoned grapefruit plantations now have become prime targets for development. For example, the Dorado Beach Resort was built in 1958 on a former coconut and grapefruit plantation that was in operation about an hour’s automobile ride west of the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan. The world-renowned resort was designed by golf course architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr. (June 20, 1906 – June 14, 2000) for Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (May 26, 1910 – July 11, 2004), philanthropist, financier, conservationist and brother of 41st U.S. Vice President Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979).
It was Count Odet Philippe (1780 - 1869) who had selected the sunny Florida peninsula as the entryway to grapefruit culture in the United States of America. Originally from Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes Region of east-central France, the count sailed his ship The Ney (named in honor of esteemed Napoleonic commander Michel Ney, January 10, 1769 - December 7, 1815) into what is now known as Old Tampa Bay sometime between 1821 and 1823. He settled near what is now the Safety Harbor suburb of Tampa at a plantation that he called St. Helena in honor of the isolated, minuscule island in the South Atlantic Ocean where Napoléon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769 - May 5, 1821), Napoléon 1er, died in exile.
Two modern sources for information on Count Philippe are the factual Odet Philippe: Peninsular Pioneer by lawyer, minister and writer Allison DeFoor (born c. 1954) and the fictional Light a Distant Fire by historical novelist Lucia St. Clair Robson (born 1942).
Count Odet Philippe’s plantation, St. Helena, no longer exists. But the Tocobaga Native American ceremonial mound near which the Count built his home still can be seen. The mound, a National Historic Site known as the Safety Harbor Site, and the land of the former plantation are both now part of Pinellas County’s 122-acre (0.93 square kilometers) Philippe Park.
On his plantation, the Count cultivated avocadoes, bananas, limes, oranges and pears as well as grapefruits, the “rich man’s dish” of the time. He was known for his generosity in sharing both his knowledge and his produce and even his seeds with his neighbors. For example, the seedlings from the Count’s grapefruit grove ultimately became the basis of the variety that was popularized by Arthur Lewis "A.L." Duncan, a former Wisconsin lawyer affiliated with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company in Milwaukee who settled in Dunedin in the 1880s.
In partnership with another transplanted Wisconsinite, Lee Bronson "L.B." Skinner (January 27, 1861 - May 5, 1936), A.L. Duncan established the Milwaukee Groves. As manager, A.L. Duncan created a cold-hardy species that thrived during devastating freezes of the early 1890s. The ‘Duncan’ in fact is the very first variety upon which every single grapefruit-growing area of the world has built production.
Through the efforts of Count Philippe and pioneer grapefruit cultivators of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Florida took and never relinquished the lead in terms of highest and most profitable levels of grapefruit production in the United States of America. Because of the sunshine state, the United States continues to be the world’s leading producer of the exotic grapefruit. Ironically, the name of the fruit’s suspected country of origin does not figure on any list of the world’s currently leading grapefruit growing countries.
Specifically, the Caribbean island of Barbados is believed to be the birthplace of the grapefruit. According to local tradition, an English sea captain stopped in Barbados in 1696. He left the seeds of the Southeast Asian pomelo (Citrus medica) during his stay on the island. Barbados was one of the ports of call on his trading itinerary that encompassed both the East and the West Indies. The captain is variously named as Chaddock, Shaddock and Shattuck.
On Barbados, the grapefruit generally was assumed to be a subsequently spontaneous sport of the original Shaddock pomelo. A sport is a part of a plant that is different from the rest in terms of branch structure, flowers, or leaf color and shape. The sport can be removed from the plant and propagated.
According to local tradition, the very first grapefruit first appeared in Welchman Hall Gully, originally the plantation of Welsh Fusilier Regiment General William Asygell Williams and now the property of the Barbados National Trust since 1962. Back in England, General Williams originally had fought against the Royalists and for the Parliamentarians in the English Civil Wars of 1642 - 1646, 1648 -1649 and 1649 -1651. But he ultimately decided to switch his support to the Royalists. He therefore was punished with exile to the Caribbean once Parliamentarian leader Oliver Cromwell (April 25, 1599 – September 3, 1658) became Lord Protector of England, Ireland and Scotland from December 16, 1653 until death.
On Barbados, the General was known for his interest in plants. That interest was continued after his death. One of his descendants is supposed to have planted Shaddock pomelos on the property and ended up with the world’s first grapefruits.
Cultivation spread from Barbados northwesterward at a distance of 1,045 nautical miles (1,202.5 miles; 1,936.5 kilometers) to Jamaica, which became the center of grapefruit production by the end of the eighteenth century. On Jamaica, as well as elsewhere in the Caribbean, the grapefruit continued to be called the little or small shaddock. But it was most often touted as “forbidden fruit” of the Caribbean.
The first recorded instance of the use of the phrase forbidden fruit appears in The Natural History of Barbados published in 1750 by the Rev. Griffith Hughes (1707-1758), an Anglican minister, naturalist and writer from Towyn, Conwy, Wales. Reverend Hughes was seeking the identity of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. He found the grapefruit Eden-like in the delectability of its fruit and the ornamentation of the tree in the landscape:
"The Fruit, when ripe, is something longer and larger than the largest Orange; and exceeds, in the Delicacy of its Taste, the Fruit of every Tree in this or any of our neighbouring Islands." (Book V, p. 129)
The phrase became a popular way of identifying the grapefruit on Barbados. For example, it appeared soon afterward in the Barbados Journal of 1750 -1751 by George Washington (February 22, 1732 - December 14, 1799). The teen-aged Washington arrived as a passenger of the Success in Bridgetown’s Carlisle Bay on November 2, 1751. He was to spend a total of six weeks, until December 22, 1751, on Barbados with his half-brother Lawrence Washington (1718 – July 1752), who suffered from tuberculosis.
The house where the young men stayed still stands. At that time, it was the home of Captain Croftan, Commander of James Fort. Nowadays, it is known as the Bush Hill House, atop the Bush Hill overlooking the Historic Garrison Area on the outskirts of Bridgetown.
During his stay on Bush Hill, the young Washington received a number of social invitations. He made the following observation regarding a dinner party held on November 10, 1751 in the residence of Judge Satus Maynard:
“After Dinner was the greatest Collection of Fruits I have yet seen set on the Table there was the Granadella the Sappadilla Pomgranate Sweet Orange Water Lemmon forbidden Fruit apples Guavas &ca. &ca. &ca.”
George Washington House Restoration Project in Barbados
Barbados National Trust has restored the house where George Washington stayed with his ailing, tubercular brother Lawrence.
The fruit’s characterization as forbidden accompanied its spread to Jamaica.
Patrick Browne:
There, the phrase first is recorded as being used by Irish physician and botanist Patrick Browne (1720 - 1790) in his The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica of 1789:
"The Forbidden Fruit, or smaller Shaddock Tree. . . .cultivated in most parts of the country; particularly on the south side, where they are observed to thrive best."
Dr. Browne noted that the fruit "excels in sweetness" and commented on other ethnobotanical applications, such as in therapeutic remedies:
"They are very successfully administered in dry belly-aches and convulsive spasms; and one of the most effectual medicines that can be used to restore weakly limbs to their former vigour." (p. 309)
John Lunan:
The designation was continued by botanist-priest John Lunan in his Hortus Jamaicensis of 1814. But Reverend Lunan added another name: grapefruit. As he explained:
"There is a variety known by the name of grape-fruit, on account of its resemblance in flavor to the grape. . . .These fruits are generally in perfection, in Jamaica, in the month of December." (p. 171)
François-Richard de Tussac:
The term grapefruit continued for some time to be overshadowed by the older common names. For example, French colonial botanist Chevalier François-Richard de Tussac (1757 - 1837), who collected, studied, and painted native and exotic plants on the French West Indian islands of Martinique and Haiti from 1786 to 1802, spent three months in Kingston, Jamaica, before returning to France. In the third volume of his masterpiece, Flores des Antilles, which was published while he directed the botanic garden at Angers in northwestern France from 1816 to 1826, Chevalier de Tussac wrote:
"J'ai eu occasion d'observer à la Jamaïque, dans le jardin botanique d'East, une espèce de Chadec dont les fruits, qui n'excèdent pas en grosseur une belle orange, sont disposés en grappes; les Anglais de la Jamaïque donnent à ce fruit le nom de 'Forbidden-fruit,' fruit défendu, ou smaller shaddock."
(”I have had the occasion to observe, at Jamaica, in the East Botanic Garden, a variety of Chadec whose fruits, which are not bigger than a beautiful orange, are arranged in clusters; the English in Jamaica give to this fruit the name of ‘forbidden fruit'. . .or smaller shaddock.”)
The delicious fruit's elevated culinary status was also praised by Chevalier de Tussac:
"C'est une assiette de dessert très distinguée et fort saine." (Volume III, pp. 73 -74)
"It is a very distinguished and very healthy dessert plate."
East Botanic Garden was started around 1770 as a private botanical garden by Hinton East on his estate, Spring Garden, in the mountains of Liguanea near the settlement of Gordon Town, about ten miles (16 kilometers) from the capital of Kingston in Jamaica's southeastern parish of St. Andrew. In addition to his passion for exotic plants, Hinton East (died 1792) was an Oxford-educated lawyer who served as Receiver General of all duties and Treasury receipts in 1779 and in an ex officio (Latin: "from the office") capacity as Judge Advocate General during his elected term in 1787 in the Jamaica House of Assembly.
In 1792 English physician-botanist Arthur Broughton (c. 1758 - 1796) completed the compilation of Hortus Eastensis, a catalogue of 521 exotic plants, including "Forbidden-fruit-tree" and "Grapefruit-Tree", in the garden at the time of Hinton East's death.
Consistent with Hinton East's wishes, the Assembly subsequently acquired the gardens around 1792 to 1793 and opened them to the public as the Botanic Garden at Liguanea. In December 1810 the Assembly passed a bill to authorize the Commissioners of the Board of Works to sell the property, which has remained under private ownership ever since. The plants, including the forbidden fruit and grapefruit trees, which were ". . .collected with so much care and industry, were entirely lost." (A.C. Sinclair, pp. 115 - 116)
James MacFadyen:
The phrase still was being used in 1837, when James MacFadyen (1798 - 1850) published his Flora of Jamaica. Nevertheless, Scottish botanist MacFadyen went on to make his own contribution to the fruit’s name. He in fact is responsible for the fruit’s botanical name, Citrus paradisi. He chose to link the fruit’s citrus parentage with its forbidden reputation: the word paradisi derives from the Greek παράδεισος (paradeisos, “a pleasure ground”) at the same time that it calls to mind the paradisiacal Garden of Eden:
"Citrus Paradisi. Forbidden Fruit. The pear-shaped variety . . . possesses most of the sweet principle. . ." (Volume I, p. 131)
The botanical name held until the twentieth century when puzzlement over the tree's origins resurfaced. For example, in his descriptive summary of the delectable fruit in 1904, Evanston, Illinois businessman-naturalist naturalistphotographer Charles S. Raddin observed:
"The Grape Fruit is really a monstrous orange."
He then detailed the plethora of common names for the "refreshing . . . . pleasing and ornamental" fruit:
"Several names have been given to the fruit. The term Shaddock . . . in recent years is chiefly applied to the pear-shaped forms, used only for ornamental purposes. The French call it the Pampelmous and the Italians, the Arancio. For some reason, the long-suffering name of Forbidden Fruit has been bestowed upon it. The term Grape Fruit, however, is derived from the fact that the fruit grows in clusters of from three to fifteen, thereby suggesting clusters of grapes. One variety of the Grape Fruit is peculiar in having a red pulp. . . ." (p. 86)
By the 1940s citrus specialists were questioning the true nature of the relationship between the forbidden fruit and the pomelo. MacFadyen had accepted the widespread assumption of the fruit as being a spontaneous sport of the pomelo. By the 1940s, however, citrus specialists were suggesting that the fruit was actually an accidental hybrid of the pomelo and the sweet orange (C. x sinensis). A persistent problem with the sport argument always had been the lack of any known reversion of the plant to the pomelo in terms of the latter’s fuzzy leaves; large, pear-shaped, sharper tasting fruit; and taller mature height.
The botanical name therefore tends to be written nowadays as Citrus x paradisi. The insertion of the x recognizes a hybrid origin to the grapefruit. A hybrid results from the interbreeding between plants of different taxa (Greek: τάξις, taxis, "arrangement"), which are biological units comprised of groups linked by similar traits. Generally, the grapefruit now is thought to be the result of accidental breeding in the wild between the pomelo and the sweet orange, which may have been introduced at about the same time on Barbados. The sweet orange in turn is thought to be an accidental hybrid of the pomelo and the mandarin (C. reticulata) back in their native
Southeast Asian habitats.
As is the case with the botanical name, the fruit’s common name has settled to one generally accepted choice, in this case, the grapefruit. But the use of the name is not achieved without controversy. For example, in 1962, Florida Citrus Mutual suggested that sales might improve with a new, more exciting designation. They were so overwhelmed by public protest to the contrary that they abandoned all further plans for a name change.
Apparently, grapefruit is an acceptable common name in English. It is a name with which consumers evidently feel comfortable.
To this day, grapefruit overall enjoys a worldwide reputation as an alluringly versatile fruit which paradisiacally enhances daily life with its intrinsic beauty, benefits, and flavors. Whether viewed as forbidden fruit or as a monstrous orange, the grapefruit continues to exert its unique appeal and to maintain the security of its position as a beneficial, familiar, desirable fruit that is featured in homes and restaurants throughout the world.
This article is dedicated to the memory of my paternal grandfather, August, who added owning a grapefruit orchard in Dunedin, Florida, to his impressive list of accomplishments. Although he predeceased my birth, I know of his admirable qualities through his son, my father, and I remember grandfather August and his poetic reverence for life every time I am in the presence of grapefruits.
My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.
grapefruit: Rev Stan, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/revstan/4049267460/
airstrip (center right), below Watermill: Dorado Beach Resort & Club @ doradobeach, via Facebook Sep. 13, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/doradobeach/posts/2512695255440467
undated photoprint: Public Domain, via Florida Memory, State Archives of Florida @ http://floridamemory.com/items/show/33474
view from top of Safety Harbor site: Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Safety_Harbor_Site_top-down_01.jpg
Citrus medica: Amada44, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Citrus_medica_001.jpg
"Map of the Caribbean by the CIA World Factbook": CIA World Factbook, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CIA_map_of_the_Caribbean.png
Griffith Hughes, Natural History of Barbados (1750), Book V, Plate 7, p. 127: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Forbidden_Fruit_Tree.jpg; Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32687516
Carlisle Bay, viewed from Bayville, Bridgetown, southwest Barbados: Two-story Georgian house on Bush Hill, St Ann's Garrison, overlooks this southern end of the bay. In 2011 house and entire Garrison district were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"final Carlisle Bay sunset" Bas Leenders (BasL), CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/basl/3263156607/
Bush Hill House: where George Washington may have stayed in Barbados
Bridgetown, parish of Saint Michael, southwestern Barbados: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD (KLOTZ), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GEORGE_WASHINGTON_HOUSE_-_BARBADOS.jpg
Jamaica's Blue Mountains: Wolmadrian, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Mountains,_Jamaica.jpg
National Botanic Garden, Washington DC: Cliff (cliff1066™), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/3107647502/
blossoms and fruit: Ellen Levy Finch (Elf), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OrangeBloss_wb.jpg
Marin County, California: Neeta Lind, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/neeta_lind/538051233/
agriculture in Israel: Oren Peles, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_10368_Agriculture_in_Israel.jpg
Selan Restaurant, Tokyo: ayako (yajiko), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ayk/84778487/
Riverside, southwestern California: Greg Mote (gregmote), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregmote/195498565/
Enampore, Casamance Region, southwestern Senegal: Ji-Elle, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EnamporGrapefruit2.JPG
grapefruits: Myrone Delacruz, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/winnipeglovesmyrone/416937727/
Broughton, Arthur. Hortus Eastensis: or, A Catalogue of Exotic Plants Cultivated in the Botanic Garden, in the Mountains of Liguanea, in the Island of Jamaica. St. Jago de la Vega: Alexander Aikman, MDCCXCIV (1794).
Browne, Patrick. The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica. In Three Parts. The Whole Illustrated with Fifty Copper-Plates. Illustrations by Georg Dionysis Ehret. London: T. Osborne and J. Shipton, MDCCLVI (1756).
Dorado Beach Resort & Club @doradobeach. "There are resorts all over the world, but one of the many things that make #DoradoBeach unique is the Pre-Historic importance of the land. People have densely populated the area for thousands of years dating back to indigenous people: https://bit.ly/2ZVsYYU." Facebook. Sep. 13, 2019.
Ford, Jos. C., and Frank Cundall. The Handbook of Jamaica for 1908 Comprising Historical, Statistical and General Information Concerning the Island, Compiled from Official and Other Reliable Records. Twenty-Eighth Year of Publication. London: Edward Stanford; Kingston, Jamaica: Government Printing Office, 1908.
Freeman, Paul. "Dorado Beach Airport / Dorado Army Airfield / Dorado Airport (DDP), Dorado, PR. 18.46, -66.3 (West of San Juan, PR)." Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Eastern Puerto Rico.
Hughes, Griffith. "Forbidden Fruit-Tree." The Natural History of Barbados, Book V: 127. London, MDCCL (1750).
Kumamoto, J., R.W. Scora, H.W. Lawton, and W.A. Clerx. “Mystery of the forbidden fruit: Historical epilogue on the origin of the grapefruit, Citrus paradise (Rutaceae).” Economic Botany, Volume 41, Number 1 (1987): 97-107.
Liao, Christina. "Puerto Rico’s Most Luxurious Villa Just Got an Extravagant Makeover An exclusive first look at the legendary Su Casa at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve." Robb Report > Travel > Resorts. May 14, 2019.
Lunan, John. Hortus Jamaicensis, or a Botanical Description (According to the Linnean System) and an Account of the Virtues, &c. of its Indigenous Plants Hitherto Known, as Also of the Most Useful Exotics. Compiled from the Best Authorities, and Alphabetically Arranged. In Two Volumes. Volume II. Jamaica: St. Jago de la Vega Gazette, 1814.
Macfadyen, James, M.D. The Flora of Jamaica; A Description of the Plants of that Island, Arranged According to the Natural Orders. Vol. I: Ranunculaceae-Leguminosae. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, MDCCCXXXVII (1848).
Raddin, Charles S. "Grape Fruit." Pages 86-87. IN: William Kerr Higley, ed. Birds and Nature in Natural Colors: A Monthly Serial, Forty Illustrations by Color Photography, A Guide in the Study of Nature. Volume XV. January to May 1904. Chicago: A.W. Mumford, 1904.
Schnur, Jim. "George Washington Moore House: A Brief Introduction." University of South Florida-St. Petersburg Digital Archive.
Sinclair, Walton B. The Grapefruit: Its Composition, Physiology, and Products. Riverside: University of California, Division of Agricultural Sciences, 1972.
Stark, James H. Stark's History and Guide to Barbados and the Caribee Islands, Containing a Description of Everything On or About These Islands of Which the Visitor or Resident May Desire Information, Including Their History, Inhabitants, Climate, Agriculture, Geology, Government, and Resources. Fully Illustrated with Maps, Engravings, and Photo-Prints. Boston: James H. Stark; London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd., 1903.
Stark, James H. Stark's Jamaica Guide (Illustrated) Containing a Description of Everything Relating to Jamaica of Which the Visitor or Resident May Desire Information, Including Its History, Inhabitants, Government, Resources, and Places of Interest to Travellers. Fully Illustrated with Maps, Engravings, and Photo-Prints. Boston: James H. Stark; London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.; Jamaica: Aston W. Gardner, 1902.
Toner, Joseph Meredith, ed. The Daily Journal of Major George Washington, 1751-2, kept while on a tour from Virginia to the island of Barbadoes, with his invalid brother, Maj. Lawrence Washington. Albany, NY: J. Munsell’s Sons, 1892.
Tussac, François-Richard de. Flore des Antilles, ou Histoire générale botanique, rurale et économique des végétaux indigènes des Antilles , et des exotiques qu'on est parvenu à y naturaliser, décrits d'après nature, selon le système sexuel de Linnée et la méthode naturelle de Jussieu, avec planches dessinées, gravées et coloriées. (Four volumes) Volume III. Paris, 1824.
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Comments
DerdriuMarrinerAug 19, 2014
Tee hee: Yes, I'm honored that grapefruits are "in my blood"!
dustytoesAug 19, 2014
DerdriuMarrinerAug 19, 2014
:-O
cmoneyspinnerAug 19, 2014
DerdriuMarrinerAug 19, 2014
I appreciate that you described this tribute as "lovely." :-)
Grapefruits are a favorite fruit for me.
Tee hee: Barbadians liking to take credit! If a place is pretty and it knows it . . .
cmoneyspinnerAug 18, 2014
Just kidding. Never even been to Barbados. I don't know what they got from what they don't got! This Wizzle page is lovely!
DerdriuMarrinerDec 9, 2013
DerdriuMarrinerDec 9, 2013
According to "Fruits of warm climates" by Julia F. Morton, published in 1987:
"In recent years, the grapefruit has become established in India in hot regions where the sweet orange and the mandarin are prone to sunburn." (pp. 152-158)
I hope that you have a chance to sample a grapefruit!
VioletteRoseDec 9, 2013
WriterArtistDec 7, 2013