daidai
{{Short description|Variety of fruit}}
{{Taxobox
| image = Citrus aurantium chinotto1.jpg
| image_caption =
| regnum = Plantae
| unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
| unranked_classis = Eudicots
| unranked_ordo = Rosids
| ordo = Sapindales
| familia = Rutaceae
| genus = Citrus
| species = C. × daidai
| binomial = Citrus × daidai
| binomial_authority = Siebold ex Hayata|
}}
The daidai ({{langx|ja|橙}}; {{zh|酸橙}}; {{ko|hangul=광귤|rr=gwanggyul}}; Citrus × daidai) is a variety of bitter orange native to Asian regions.
The daidai originated in the Himalayas. It spread to the Yangtze valley region and later to Japan. The colour of the fruit loses its yellowish hue and becomes greener in the spring. The native Japanese word for the {{nihongo|color orange|だいだい色|daidai-iro}} is derived from the name of this fruit.
Uses
There are two main cultivars, {{nihongo||臭橙|kabusu}} and {{nihongo||回青橙|kaiseitō}}, and the latter bears smaller fruits than the former in Japan.{{Cite web |last=佐藤治雄 |date=15 February 2005 |title=ダイダイ Citrus aurantium |url=http://www.ne.jp/asahi/osaka/100ju/Daidai.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825130525/http://www.ne.jp/asahi/osaka/100ju/Daidai.htm |archive-date=25 August 2007 |access-date=2017-10-02 |series=大阪百樹 [Osaka Hyakuju]}}
The fruit is very bitter and not usually eaten, but its dried peel is used in Kampo (the Japanese adaptation of Chinese medicine). The dry peels of young fruits are called kijitsu (枳実) and are used as a stomachic, expectorant{{Cite book |last=Dolf De Rovira |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=avYMy82EBuAC&pg=PA239 |title=Dictionary of Flavors |date=28 February 2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-38484-8 |page=239}} as well as a laxative. The peel of ripe daidai is called {{nihongo||橙皮|tohi}} and is used as a fragrant stomachic and expectorant.
==Cultural aspect==
The name daidai, originally meaning "several generations" ({{nihongo||代々}}), came from the fruit staying on the tree for several years if not picked;{{Cite web |last=Yoshio Hada |title=ダイダイ Citrus aurantium（ミカン科ミカン属） |trans-title=Daidai C. aurantium (Citrus Rutaceae) |url=http://had0.big.ous.ac.jp/plantsdic/angiospermae/dicotyledoneae/choripetalae/rutaceae/daidai/daidai.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202140733/http://had0.big.ous.ac.jp/plantsdic/angiospermae/dicotyledoneae/choripetalae/rutaceae/daidai/daidai.htm |archive-date=2023-02-02 |access-date=2017-10-02 |series=Ecology and Topics of Plants |publisher=Okayama University of Science |language=ja}} thus, a tree bears fruits of more than one season or from multiple years. Another background of its name refers to the shape of kaiseito's calyx, which appears to be stepped or as if the fruit is borne on two pedestals or {{nihongo||台々|daidai}}. That is why people also called it {{nihongo3|'daidai on pedestal'|座橙々|za-daiidai}}).
Daidai is used as a decoration in Japanese New Year celebrations, such as Shimekazari, as a symbol of the family to continue for generations, and people place a fruit on top of kagami mochi, a stack of two to three round and flat mochi. This use is believed to date from the Edo period.From a botanical essay by {{nihongo||菩多尼訶}}. {{Cite web |last=Botanica |date=January 2005 |title=第二十八話 ダイダイ |trans-title=#28 Daidai |url=http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~fv9h-ab/kamakura/botanical-essay2.html#Anchor836621 |access-date=2 October 2017 |series=Mampitsu Botanica [Botanica's Essays] |language=ja}}
It has not yet been resolved as a true species by The Plant List.{{Cite web |title=Citrus daidai Siebold ex Hayata is an unresolved name |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2724063 |access-date=18 January 2017}}