Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.) is a relatively recent natural hybrid of pummelo (C. grandis (L.) Osb. = C. maxima (Burm.) Merrill) and sweet orange (C. sinensis (L.) Osb.). While there is some confusion about its exact origins and early movements, it appears to have originated in Barbados, probably in the seventeenth or eighteenth century. What information is available has been reviewed in detail by Sinclair (1972), Kumamoto et al. (1987) and Gmitter (1995). Unlike its one parent, the pummelo, grapefruit is polyembryonic, and was moved as seed to several Caribbean islands including Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas. Grapefruit was introduced as seed into Florida early in the nineteenth century by Count Odette Philippe.