“The fruits are borne usually in clusters of
from 3 to 15,” explains the Cyclopedia of American Horticulture,
published 1901, “hence the name Grape-fruit (in clusters or
bunches like grapes), by which it is known by in Jamaica.”
Even back then,
however, at least one expert took issue with that answer. Here’s
the editor of The American Botanist grousing back in 1902:
Another horticultural magazine gravely informs its readers that
the grape-fruit (Citnis decumana) receives its common name from
the fact that it grows ‘in grapose clusters.’ Everybody that has
seen the grape-fruit growing knows that the fruits hang singly,
like their near relatives the orange and lemon. ‘Grapose
clusters’ favors facts manufactured to fit the explanation.
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