Ren's Did You Know - The first navel orange tree in California replanted here by President Theodore Roosevelt, ca.1910

Photograph of the first navel orange tree in California replanted here by President Theodore Roosevelt, ca.1910. The tree is protected from the public with a metallic fence. The tree stands on the sidewalk in front of a building (or house?) with Spanish tiles, and stuccoed walls. Several chairs line the walls of the building. Picture file card reads: "Parent Washington Navel Orange tree, Glenwood Grounds, planted where it is by President Roosevelt. According to Mrs. Chas. F. Mills, care Riverside News, her father, Luther C. Tibbets, planted the first Navel Orange tree in California at Riverside in 1873. The tree was replanted by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 at the Mission Inn. The parent tree is one of two that was imported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from Brazil. The other has since died."; An article attached to the picture file card, entitled "Send Fruit to Editors", reads: "Riverside, March 1. -- The golden fruit of Southern California's parent orange tree is to help spread the fame of the Southland's citrus products. The Riverside County Chamber of Commerce today sent 126 oranges from the famous tree to as many newspaper editors in the Middle West and East. With each luscious globule went a brief account of the history of the citrus industry. The parent tree is one of two that was imported by the United States Department of Agriculture from Brazil. The two trees were sent to Riverside and from them are descended the millions of Washington navel trees that constitute Southern California's citrus groves. One of the trees died several years ago, but the remaining tree has been kept alive by tree surgeons of the Riverside citrus experiment station. Surrounded by an ornamental fence, with a tablet at its base telling its history, the old tree is vigorous and bears fruit second to none."; "The 'Washington Navel' (formerly known as 'Bahia') originated, perhaps as a mutant in Bahia, Brazil, before 1820. It was introduced into Florida in 1835 and several other times prior to 1870. In 1873, budded trees reached California where the fruit matures at the Christmas season. It is large but with a thick, easily removed rind; not very juicy; of excellent flavor, and seedless or nearly so. Ease of peeling and separation of segments makes this the most popular orange in the world for eating out-of-hand or in salads. Limonene content of the juice results in bitterness when pasteurized and therefore this cultivar is undesirable for processing. The tree needs a relatively cool climate and should not be grown below an elevation of 3,300 ft (1,000 in) in tropical countries. Today it is commercially grown, not only in Brazil and California, but also in Paraguay, Spain, South Africa, Australia and Japan."