In the first half of the nineteenth century Brazil was the center of interest of European researchers, with a great number of studies and books published around that time about the Brazilian flora. Many travelers spoke about wild orange trees they found in the interior of this country, and some even believed that the orange was a native fruit of Brazil. In fact, the good adaptation of the orange to the climate and the soil in Brazil produced a particular variety, internationally known as the Bahia orange or the Navel orange, which may have first appeared around the year 1800.

In 1873, taking advantage of the North American diplomatic services established in Brazil, technicians specialized in citrus production in Riverside, California, received three seedlings of Bahia orange, from which came the seedlings that would later be spread all over the United States and other parts of the world with the name of Washington Navel. Therefore, the citrus exchange between the two countries is over a century old, and the Bahia orange was a fundamental base for that exchange.