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The bitter orange comes from Xina and Indonesia, but nowadays it is grown all around the world.
It's an evergreen tree whose height is about 3-5 metres, but it can achieve higher altitudes (10 metres).
Its top is compact and lush, and its trunk it's made from a smooth green and grey bark.
The bitter orange's leaves are elliptical, lanceolate and entire.
The leaves are also bright green colored and leathery texture. They also contain essential oils that make them aromatic.
The flowers are about 2 cm and have a gynoecium consisting of 6-12 carpels.
The flowers are white and fragrant. They bloom in early spring.
The fruit is a hesperidium of about 7-8 cm in diameter and it's bright orange colored at maturity.
The surface of these fruits is a little rough and its flesh is bitter and acid at a time.
The organs used for medicine are the leaves, flowers, immature fruit and the pericardium.
It has mild sedative properties and from the flower, you can get medicines against nervous disorders.
The pericardium and immature fruit are good orexigenic: are used to stimulate hunger in digestive problems.
The juice produced from the fruit is rich in vitamins and an excellent preventive of influenza.