The runt rules. The citron — thick-skinned, faint of flavor, dry, looking like a lumpy lemon — is the least-favored of all citrus fruits, but the one that gave the entire family its name. All oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, mandarins, lemons, limes — all citrus, in other words — get their family name from the citron, still grown (albeit sparely), despite its disfavor, along the Mediterranean and in the United States. MORE: From last week’s Get Cooking: Subji proves vegetable dishes can be filling It was the first of the citrus, centuries ago, to make it from the family’s origins in Asia to Europe, you see, and because Europe is where most of our language’s plant names began, citron begat “citrus.” Citrus is a large and influential family of fruits indeed, the third-largest grown after the pear and apple family and the plantain and banana clan.