<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The industrial production of citrus plants for ornamental use (ornacitrus) began in Italy at the end of the 1960s due to the need for many citrus nurseries to adapt their activities in a time of crisis for citriculture. Nowadays, the ornamental citrus nursery sector is a well-established industry in many European countries such as Portugal, Spain, Greece, and southern Italy. In Italy, nursery production of ornamental citrus plants has become prominent due to the gradual shutdown of many commercial citrus orchards. Currently, Italy maintains its leadership with more than 5.5 million ornacitrus plants produced annually. Ornamental citrus production regards mainly different cultivars of <italic>Citrus</italic> and <italic>Fortunella</italic> species, with lemon as the lead species. In this paper, the contribution of breeding and cultural techniques to the innovation of the sector is reported and discussed. This review aims to give an updated scientific and technical description of a sector with large competitive potential that remains still largely unexplored, pointing out its strengths and weaknesses.</p></abstract>

The industrial production of citrus plants for ornamental use (ornacitrus) began in Italy at the end of the 1960s due to the need for many citrus nurseries to adapt their activities in a time of crisis for citriculture. Nowadays, the ornamental citrus nursery sector is a well-established industry in many European countries such as Portugal, Spain, Greece, and southern Italy. In Italy, nursery production of ornamental citrus plants has become prominent due to the gradual shutdown of many commercial citrus orchards. Currently, Italy maintains its leadership with more than 5.5 million ornacitrus plants produced annually. Ornamental citrus production regards mainly different cultivars of Citrus and Fortunella species, with lemon as the lead species. In this paper, the contribution of breeding and cultural techniques to the innovation of the sector is reported and discussed. This review aims to give an updated scientific and technical description of a sector with large competitive potential that remains still largely unexplored, pointing out its strengths and weaknesses.

Ornacitrus: Citrus plants (<italic>Citrus</italic> spp.) as ornamentals

University of Palermo Viale delle Scienze

Alimentari e Forestali University of Palermo

Folia Horticulturae

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Ornacitrus: Citrus plants ( spp.) as ornamentals

The industrial production of citrus plants for ornamental use (ornacitrus) began in Italy at the end of the 1960s due to the need for many citrus nurseries to...

Ornacitrus: Citrus plants (Citrus spp.) as ornamentals

Published Online: Dec 26, 2019

Page range: 239 - 251

Received: Dec 04, 2018

Accepted: Apr 15, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fhort-2019-0018

Keywords
spp., nursery management, potted ornamental plants, rootstocks, variety

© 2019 Francesco Sottile et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Ornacitrus: Citrus plants (Citrus spp.) as ornamentals

Published Online: Dec 26, 2019

Page range: 239 - 251

Received: Dec 04, 2018

Accepted: Apr 15, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fhort-2019-0018

Keywordsspp., nursery management, potted ornamental plants, rootstocks, variety

© 2019 Francesco Sottile et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
spp., nursery management, potted ornamental plants, rootstocks, variety