Bergamot (redirected from bergamot orange)

bergamot (bûr`gəmŏt') [from Bergamo, Italy], citrus tree (Citrus bergamia) grown chiefly in Italy, belonging to the family Rutaceae (rue family). From the rind of the bergamot orange is extracted an essential oil used in perfumes and eau de Cologne. Various North American plants of the Labiatae (mint family) are also called bergamot because of their bergamotlike fragrance. Chief among these is Monarda fistulosa, or wild bergamot, closely related to the Oswego tea, or bee balm, which it resembles. The name bergamot is also applied to a variety of pear. True bergamot is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.

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bergamot

Any of several North American perennial plants of the mint family, also known as bee balm, fragrant balm, and Indian's plume. The leaves are used as an herb to flavour tea, punches, lemonade, and other cold drinks. Monarda didyma, native to the U.S., is made into Oswego tea, a beverage used by the American Indian Oswego tribe and said to be the drink adopted by the 18th-century colonists during their boycott of British tea. The pear-shaped fruit of the bergamot orange (Citrus bergamia), found chiefly in Calabria, Italy, is valued by the flavouring and perfume industries for the essential oil extracted from its peel. The bergamot pear, a popular winter pear cultivated in Britain, is a large, round fruit with yellowish green skin.

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bergamot

1. a small Asian spiny rutaceous tree, Citrus bergamia, having sour pear-shaped fruit

2. essence of bergamot a fragrant essential oil from the fruit rind of this plant, used in perfumery and some teas (including Earl Grey)

3. a Mediterranean mint, Mentha citrata, that yields an oil similar to essence of bergamot

4. 

a. wild bergamot a North American plant, Monarda fistulosa, with clusters of purple flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)

b. a garden plant of the same genus, usually M. didyma (bee balm), grown for its scarlet or pink flowers

5. a variety of pear

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Bergamot 

(1) The name of certain varieties of pear trees that have flat, rounded fruits, such as the autumn bergamot, the red summer bergamot, the muscatel bergamot, the Volga bergamot, and others. The autumn bergamot is the most popular of them; it is an ancient Russian cultivated variety. The fruits are of medium size and are dark green with brick-red and brown tint. The flesh is soft and grainy, with a sweet, winy taste and a pleasant aroma. The trees begin to bear fruit in the seventh to ninth years; the yield is one or two centners per tree. Bergamots are distributed in the central belt of the RSFSR, in Latvia, and in Lithuania.

(2) Citrus bergamia is a small evergreen fruit tree (3–5 m tall) of the Rutaceae family and the Aurantiaceae subfamily. The leaves are oval oblong, 6.5–13.5 cm long and 2.5–7.5 cm wide, and either pointed or blunt at the tip. The leaves are dark green on top and light green on the underside. The fruits are of medium size, pear-shaped, and 4.5–6.0 cm in diameter. The skin of the fruit is golden yellow and has a specific odor. The flesh is sour or acidic, slightly bitter, and not very edible. The tree begins to bear fruit after seven or eight years. Five species are known. The bergamot was introduced into cultivation along the Mediterranean in the 17th century. In the USSR, bergamots are grown in small quantities on the Black Sea coast (Georgian SSR). Bergamot ethereal oil (about 1.75 percent) is obtained from the skin of the fruit, as well as from the blossoms, leaves, and young shoots. Bergamot oil is used in the perfume and candy industries. Agricultural techniques for growing the bergamot are the same as those for other citrus cultivation.