This process, known as grafting, allows farmers to combine the desirable traits of both parent trees, such as the sweetness of oranges and the acidity of lemons. While it's true lemons are a hybrid of sour oranges and citrons, the hybridization process occurred naturally thousands of years ago, with bees transferring pollen between species of citron. There are two hybrids of lemon + orange The meyer lemon, and the lemandarin Both of these are crosses between a mandarin and a lemon, rather than a sweet orange. Many of our favorite fruits are hybrids
Orange lemons are a cross between citrus and orange It is named after meyer, who first bred this variety. Rough lemons arose from a cross between citron and mandarin, without the pomelo contribution found in true lemons, while the meyer lemon comes from a citron crossed with a sweet (as opposed to sour) orange. Lemon trees, known for their tart and acidic fruit, are combined with orange trees, which are celebrated for their sweet and juicy offerings, to produce a unique hybrid variety that captures the best qualities of both parents. True lemons, for example, are hybrids that arose from a cross between a male citron and a female sour orange, which itself was a hybrid of pomelo and pure mandarin. Their origins are uncertain, but they are believed to have evolved through natural hybridization thousands of years ago.
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