1. Navel Oranges

2. Navel oranges are easy to spot in the produce aisle, they are the ones with the button formation opposite the stem end.

3. Navel Oranges Navel oranges are considered the world’s finest eating orange. They are seedless and peel and segment easily.

4. Navel Oranges The appearance of the bellybutton or navel on the orange is the result of a mutation. The mutation created a twin or second orange inside the orange. A Presbyterian missionary discovered it in the mid-1800’s in Bahia, Brazil.

5. Navel Oranges The missionary was impressed with the sweet tasting, seedless orange with a baby orange inside. So he made a cutting and propagated some little trees he sent to William Saunders at USDA in Washington, D.C.

6. Navel Oranges In 1872, Saunders sent his former neighbor, Eliza Tibbets, who had moved West to a new colony with a warm climate several starter trees. This was the beginning of the navel orange industry in California.

7. Navel Oranges Navel oranges are available from November through May, but are most abundant in January, February and March.

8. Navel Oranges Oranges are valued for their Vitamin C content. They are the primary source of this nutrient for most Americans. They also provide folacin, calcium, potassium, thiamin, niacin, and magnesium.

9. Navel Oranges Most oranges are consumed in the form of juice. But remember when eating the whole fruit you get the nutrients, as well as fiber.

10. References Children’s Literature about Oranges A Little Pigeon Toad by Fred Gwyne The Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco Oranges for Everyone by Daiga Zake Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett Oranges on Golden Mountain by Elizabeth Partridge http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/month/orange.html http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103250589 http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/month/orange.html