Balotin Lemon - Botanical poster 50x70cm

Citrus Balotina - Balotin Lemon

Nicknamed "Adam's apple" since the 17th century, the Balotin Lemon owes its legendary name to the curious indentation that marks its top, evoking the imprint of a bite.

Ferrari, in his famous work Hesperides (1646), was the first to immortalize this singular fruit under the Latin name pomum Adami.

Two centuries later, Poiteau confirmed this identification and restored its true botanical name, preserved in the great Parisian orangeries. This plate finely illustrates one of the most poetic and unknown citrus fruits of the European horticultural heritage.

The Balotin is a vigorous lemon tree that shares with the citron the fleshy thickness of its rind and the refreshing quality of its tangy juice.

Its majestic habit, its stiff branches punctuated with yellowish thorns, and its oval, yellowish-green leaves give it an elegant silhouette.

Its large flowers, tinged with red on the outside, bloom in spectacular clusters at the top of the branches.

The fruit, of a good size, is distinguished by its rounded shape, slightly flattened on the peduncle side, and its large, irregular terminal nipple, hollowed out with a characteristic furrow.

Its thick, rough, and deep yellow skin contains twelve locules filled with yellowish vesicular pulp, rich in a tangy juice formerly prized for making lemonades.

Cultivated in the most beautiful orangeries in France, including the Jardin du Roi in Paris and Versailles, it flowers in June and ripens for eighteen months, testifying to the patience and know-how of 19th-century gardeners.

This plate is taken from Poiteau and Turpin's Traité des Arbres Fruitiers, an encyclopedic work dedicated to fruits cultivated in France, a major reference in 19th-century naturalistic illustration.

It combines the rigor of scientific drawing with a rare artistic sensibility, characteristic of the great plates of the golden age of illustrated botany.

• Each poster is printed with 12-color Giclée printing, the reference for art workshops for the reproduction of fine tones, subtle gradients, and the most delicate botanical details.
• 200 gsm paper, soft matte finish, 0.26 mm thickness: a rendering close to the original engraving, clear, glare-free, designed for hanging.
• Printed on FSC certified paper, produced individually to order.
• Shipped in a rigid protective tube.