The Color Orange

The English word for the color "orange", comes from the name of the fruit (orange), which might have its origin from a Sanskrit word "nāraṅgaḥ" for orange tree. (Yes, I looked this up on Wikipedia.)

The other year, we planted a "Satsuma" dwarf orange tree. For most of the year, the oranges are green in color, but this past week they are turning orange. I took a photo yesterday.



The Satsuma orange is a seedless Mandarin variety. It was introduced to the United States from Japan, but legend has it that it was originally introduced to Japan from China more than 500 years ago.

During the first year, our tree produced only "one" orange. But this year we have twenty five! I guess, the tree likes it here. Our part of southern California (the San Gabriel Valley) has been known historically as a major area for citrus production.

In fact, in places like Riverside, California, many Asian American immigrant laborers were involved with the harvesting of oranges. Here are a couple web links that might be of interest...

Japanese Americans in Riverside

Oranges and Independence: Ahn Chang Ho