Ordinary Grapefruit - Botanical poster 50x70cm

Citrus decumana, Common Pomelo

In the 18th century, an English captain named Shaddock brought back a spectacular citrus fruit from India, so exquisite that it was dubbed the forbidden fruit, its flavor seemingly surpassing anything that the terrestrial paradise could have offered.

This pomelo, ancestor of the modern grapefruit, quickly became a prized curiosity in European orangeries, where several varieties were cultivated, distinguished by their glabrous or pubescent branches, crinkled leaves, and especially their monumental fruits.

The Common Pomelo is recognized by its robust, angular, and beautiful green branches, bearing large, thick, pale green leaves, with a broadly winged petiole; a distinctive characteristic of the species.

Its white flowers, grouped in bouquets, reach 54 to 80 millimeters in diameter, exhaling a sweet fragrance, but different from that of other orange trees. They have only four petals, a consistent botanical detail.

The fruit, true to its Latin name decumana ("very large"), has a finely textured surface, a greenish-yellow color paler than a lemon. Its exceptionally thick skin, white or slightly pinkish, contains sixteen small segments of vesicular pulp, greenish, slightly acidic.

Taking eighteen months to ripen, this spectacular fruit was cultivated in Paris more for its ornamental beauty than for consumption.

This plate is taken from Pierre-Antoine Poiteau and Pierre Jean François Turpin's Traité des Arbres Fruitiers (Treatise on Fruit Trees), a botanical encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, 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 from the golden age of illustrated botany.

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