Orange
The original orange was not palpable, and clearly the complete opposite than the orange fruits we have today. Herbalists used it to make medicinal syrup. It wasn’t the delicious, citrusy fruit we bite into on a hot summer’s day. Like all citrus fruits, oranges originated in the foothills of the Southeast Himalayas. “A fossil specimen from the late Miocene epoch (11.6 – 5.3 million years ago) from Lincang in Yunnan, China has traits that are characteristic of current major citrus groups and provides evidence for the existence of a common Citrus ancestor within the Yunnan province approximately 8 million years ago (Story Maps). While it didn’t look very different than the wrinkly, old oranges we see today, it certainly tasted different.