Citrus myrtifolia 'Chinotto'

Citrus myrtifolia 'Chinotto' is the myrtle-leaf orange, a small, dense, thornless citrus grown as much for beauty as for fruit. The tidy branches carry little pointed leaves like a myrtle's, sweetly fragrant white flowers, and a long-held crop of small, round, bitter oranges. Compact and slow, the chinotto makes an exceptional container or patio plant, an evergreen jewel that flowers and fruits at an easy, manageable size.

The name hints at China, where the tree is thought to have begun, but chinotto found its lasting fame in Italy, above all around Savona on the Ligurian coast. There the bitter little fruits are candied whole, cooked into marmalade, and pressed into the famous chinotto soft drink and a range of bitter aperitivi. Too sour to eat fresh, chinotto is a fruit for the kitchen and the glass, prized for aroma and bitterness rather than sweetness.

Woodlanders has long led in offering citrus and citrus kin that push north of the usual orange belt, and chinotto is among the more cold-tolerant of the sour oranges, reported to grow well outdoors in Augusta, Georgia. Even so, the tree is tender, and gardeners in colder spots do best to grow the chinotto in a large pot that can move under cover when frost threatens. Give warmth, full sun, and good drainage, and the reward is fragrance, glossy evergreen foliage, and ornamental fruit that lingers for months.

Set Citrus myrtifolia 'Chinotto' in full sun in a warm, sheltered garden or a roomy container of free-draining mix, where the perfume of the flowers and the bright, long-lasting fruit can be enjoyed close at hand. Neat, evergreen, and richly scented in bloom, the chinotto works as a patio specimen, a fragrant accent by a door, or a small evergreen for a mild-climate border. For the cook and the collector alike, few citrus are so useful in so little space.

Photo courtesy of UC RIverside