Yemenite citron

The Yemenite citron is a very curious variety containing no pulp. Professor Eliezer E. Goldschmidt attested it to be a true variety of citron, having close genetic relation with the rest of types which are used as Etrog. A brief documentation of this study was presented at the [http://www.lal.ufl.edu/societies/ISC/gcgn/Appendix_9.PDF Global Citrus Germplasm Network] .

Although at different Jewish cultures they never heard of such a citron, the Yemenite Jews say it went with them through tradition, and even believe it was in their hands since The First Temple.

Some of them are arguing that the absence of pulp is clear evidence for its purity, and that the different varieties got their pulp, only when they were grafted upon Lemon or Orange rootstock.

=The Other Citron Varieties=

* Different Citron varieties which are used as Etrog, are the Diamante citron of Italy, the Greek Citron, the Balady Citron, and the Moroccan Citron.

* Citron varieties, or hybrids not used for the ritual, are the Fingered Citron and the Florentine Citron.

References

* [http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ibids/index.php?mode2=detail&origin=ibids_references&therow=796030 The Search for the Authentic Citron: Historic and Genetic Analysis; HortScienc 40(7):1963-1968. 2005]
* Fruits of a grafted tree at the [http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/yemen.html Citrus Variety Collection] by the University of California Riverside, containing no pulp.

* [http://www.chayas.com/sheela.htm#ethrog Agitation for the Yemenite Citron] , [http://www.temani.net/http/mamrim/etrog.htm Hebrew]
* [http://www.jewishtoronto.net/page.html?ArticleID=113423 UJA of Greater Toronto]
* [http://yemenite.org/forumnew/index.php?s=41e3a487c32999496293295626368ceb&showtopic=2064&pid=7725&st=0&#entry7725 Yemenite Forum about their Etrog]
* [http://news.hydepark.co.il/topic.asp?topic_id=1590858 Hyde Park about the Yemenite and their Etrog]