Birkat Ha'ilanot on an orange tree

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Can birkat ha’ilanot be made on an orange tree?

Oranges specifically bring up the question of kilayim, since oranges are a hybrid of pomelo and mandarin. Additionally, grafting, which is also a kilayim issue, is often done with commercially grown oranges.

However, if the original hybrid fruit was not mixed by a Jew, and one only planted the seed of a fruit that was previously derived from a hybrid planting, it is permissible to plant and not considered a violation of kilayim. Furthermore, the Chazon Ish teaches that when two fruits are from the same family of fruit, it is not considered kilayim.

This holds true of the orange tree, which is grafted with other trees of the same citrus family.

Thus, the bracha of birkat ha’ilanot may be said on an orange tree.