CALAMONDIN

Citrofortunella microcarpa

Long ago, we had a lot of plants in our backyard.

From the big mango trees to the tall coconut tree to the
shady guava tree to the lanky papaya tree, our backyard
was home to a variety of plants. However, only one plant
was the most memorable. The calamansi, or Citrofortunella
microcarpa, is one of the more known plants in the country
and is a pretty common sight in a typical Filipino backyard.

CALAMANSI
family

Rutaceae

scientific name

Citrofortunella microcarpa (Bunge) Wijnands

common names

calamansi, calamondin, calamonding,

golden lime, acid orange

distribution

southeast Asia, India, Hawaii, the West

Indies, Central and North America

height

3 to 6 meters (9.8 to 19.7 feet)

leaves

elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 4 to 8 cm long

flowers

solitary, axillary, rarely in pairs, white,

short stalked

fruit

yellow when ripe, nearly spherical, 2 to

3.5 cm in diameter, 6 to 7-celled, and
thin skinned

When I was young, I was always tasked to get

some of the fruit of the two calamansi shrubs we have in
our backyard for the soy sauce. I would always hurriedly go
outside (even if its dark sometimes) and pick some random fruits, big or small (it always seems like theyre appearing all year round). Then I cut the small fruits into to
two and squeeze its juice onto a saucer of soy sauce. I
generally dont like soy sauce on its own, since I find it too
salty, but when the juice of calamansi is added, it becomes
heavenly. Indeed, there are lots of uses for the juice of
calamansi in the kitchen. We use it as a flavoring for viands, like kinilaw, or palabok. It will always have fond
memories with me since I love food.
Another fond memory would be me drinking calamansi juice when I am sick. My mom or dad would buy lots
and lots of calamansi and just juice it out, then add a little
sugar for sweetness. It would always make my day, even if
I am lying on my bed, feeling quite nauseous. In fact, we
even have calamansi juice regularly, but with the added
twist of (powdered) mango juice! It is delightful!
Common as it may be, calamansi has been an
integral part of my life, or anyones really. I do hope that
everyone that benefits from this wonderful plant will fully
appreciate it. :)

REFERENCES
http://idtools.org/id/citrus/citrusid/images/fs_images/Calamondin_IMG_5312.jpg
http://www.rubybayan.com/neuralspork/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/20080914_kalamansi_01-a.jpg
http://lasunodostresmarias.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/p1070172-copy.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6pnjAUlWok/UYaBkcDa12I/AAAAAAAAADw/tH59ackx00E/s1600/calamansi-fruit-stages.JPG
http://stuartxchange.com/Kalamansi.html

Ruther Harvey I. Cabral

2012-53146 | BS Biology
Institute of Biology
University of the Philippines - Diliman