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Цитрон "Рука Будды" - очень декоративный и коллекционный сорт, раритет из семейства цитрусовых с плодами в форме кисти руки с многочисленными пальцами.
Особо ценится в Китае и Японии, так как используется во время религиозных церемоний.
Крона взрослого деревца не очень плотная, основные ветви крепкие, побеги слаборазветвленные, молодые листья имеют красновватый оттенок, листья типичной широкой формы, матовые, длиной в среднем 12-15см (иногда даже 20см), в пазухах короткие острые шипы.
Цветы большие, до 4см, в плотных соцветиях преимущественно на концах веток, бутоны фиолетовые, сами цветки белые. Основное цветение весной, но цветы "выстреливвают" и летом. и даже осенью.
Плоды бывают разной формы; кожура желтая, толстая, очень ароматная, мякоти немного или нет совсем и она кислая, как у лимона. Уже завязь бывает разделена на несколько частей, от 5 и больше сегментов, позднее превращающихся в "пальцы".
Расположениеи уход: светлое, с мая по сентябрь можно держать на открытом воздухе в защищенном от ветра месте. Необходима регулярная обрезка для формирования кроны.
Зимнее содержание: очень светлое, от +5С до +15С, чтобы плоды перезимовали и продолжили дозревать с весны.

For over a millennium, the Chinese and Japanese have prized the bizarre Buddha's Hand Citron, which looks like a cross between a giant lemon and a squid, and can perfume a room for weeks with its mysterious fragrance. Normal citrons (Citrus medica L.) resemble big, rough lemons, their thick yellow rinds often used for candying. A hybrid, though some say a mutant form of this citrus, the Buddha's Hand (var. sarcodactylis), splits longitudinally at the end opposite the stem into segments that look remarkably like long thin gnarled human fingers. Some of the many more popular names for this oval-shaped fruit that can be as long at two hundred millimeters include Five Finger Mandarin (wu zhi gan), Fragrant Citron (xian yuan), and Fingered Citron (zhi yuan).

Scholars believe that sometime after the fourth century CE, Buddhist monks carried this graceful oddity from India to China, where it came to symbolize happiness, wealth and longevity. Chinese like to carry about the fo zhou gan in their hands, place it on tables in their homes, and present it as a sacrificial offering at temple altars. Artists classically depicted it in jade and ivory carvings, in prints, and on lacquered wood panels. Though esteemed chiefly for its exquisite form and aroma, the Buddha's Hand citron is also candied as a dessert, and prescribed as a stimulant, expectorant, and tonic in non-traditional medicine.

The golden fruit is especially popular at New Year's, for it is believed to bestow good fortune on a household. At year's end--the Japanese who call it bushukan, also buy it. They use it as a decorative ornament and place it on top of specially pounded rice cakes, or they use it in lieu of flowers in the home's sacred tokonomo alcove.

This fingered citron grows on a small spreading evergreen tree that reaches heights of three to five feet. It bears its main crop in winter, though it may produce a few fruits from "off blooms" throughout the year. American gardeners coddle the frost-sensitive tree as an ornamental and there are a few small-scale commercial growers in California who sell to flower shops and fancy food stores.

Some varieties of Buddha's Hand Citron have a sour pulp. some none at all, but cooks interested in exotica value the fruit for its aromatic peel. In the United States it has curried favor with western chefs. Gary Palm of The Mission Inn in Riverside, California chops up pieces of rind to add a slightly bitter citrus tinge to fish marinades. Lindsey Shere, pastry chef of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California uses the candied peel in Italian desserts, such as pane forte. Allan Susser of Chef Allen's in Adventura, Florida bakes pieces of candied rind in biscotti. It adds flavor that he describes as "kumquat-tangerine" which is distinct from the more lemony flavor of regular citrus.

Recipes for Buddha's Hand rarely appear in Chinese cookbooks, though a few do mention it. Your editor found it mentioned in the bible. She even used it once; and has added two recipes for it that follow the article. She also recommends half dried citron and half Chinese dried tangerine peel when fresh ones can not be located; and that can be all too often. She has also provided a more common recipe, Crispy Buddha's Hand, a visual reminder and used as such but hardly the real thing.

Buddha's Hand Citron was quite rare in America; but during the main season--from late fall to early spring, you might find a few at Balducci's (424 Sixth Avenue, New York NY 10011; phone: 212/673-2600) or at Monterey Market (1550 Hopkins Street, Berkeley Ca 92707; phone: (510/526-6042)) where they cost about ten dollars or more. In season, you can also order them from Cunningham Organic Farms, P.O. Box 1522 in Fallbrook CA 92088 (their phone is: 760/728-7343). If your garden is fre