mandarin orange
橘 centers on a specific type of citrus fruit: the mandarin orange. It is not a general fruit character but refers narrowly to this fruit and the tree that bears it.
橘 combines 木 (tree) with 矞, which likely contributes the sound and may relate to a piercing or pointed quality, but the exact historical development of 矞 in this context is uncertain.
The left side 木 is a tree, and the right side 矞 looks like a complex fruit with a top and inner segments. Picture a tree bearing intricate, segmented mandarin oranges.
For キツ, imagine a mandarin orange that is so sour it makes you say 'kits!' — a sharp, puckering sound. Kits -> キツ, and the orange's tartness is unforgettable.
tachibana orange (Citrus tachibana)
citrus; citrus fruit
citrus; citrus fruit
sudachi (species of Japanese citrus, Citrus sudachi)
trifoliate orange (Citrus trifoliata); hardy orange
Kyoto Tachibana University
Kyoto Tachibana Women's University
tachibana tree west of the southern stairs of the Hall for State Ceremonies (in Heian Palace)
Calamansi (Citrus x microcarpa)
Canadian dwarf cornel (Cornus canadensis); bunchberry dogwood; crackerberry
orange jasmine (Murraya paniculata); orange jessamine
Tachibana Women's University
fifth lunar month
Tachibana Shinto (Edo-period sect of Suika Shinto popularized by Mitsuyoshi Tachibana)
mashed sweet potatoes (incl. sweetened chestnuts or beans)
lesser cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus)
the Genji, Heike, Fujiwara and Tachibana clans
trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata); hardy orange
blooming tachibana; tachibana flower