Washington Navels  The navel type of sweet orange is not a modern product.  It was described and pictured by John Baptisti Ferrarius in 1646 and is apparently of early origin.  In 1820 the Bahia form of navel orange made its appearance in Brazil, where the orange trees had been introduced by the Portuguese settlers.  In 1870 the citrus industry had begun in California, but needed an early and midseason variety that would adapt to the climate.  In 1870 through the assistance of a missionary in Bahia Brazil, William Saunders, the superintendent of gardens and grounds of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C., imported 12 navel orange trees in tubs from Brazil.  These were housed in the Department green house at Washington, and propagations were made for distribution to the regions adapted to citrus culture, with the first being largely sent to California and Florida.   Mr. and Mrs. Tibbits prior to heading to the west coast to a settlement called Riverside California visited the Washington gardens in 1873 and were given two Bahia trees by Mr. Saunders which the Tibbits planted by their cottage in Riverside.  In February 1879 this fruit was awarded the first prize over other navels from Orange county and these two trees were then used to source extensive plantings. The variety was referred to as the Washington variety to distinguish it from the other varieties imported from Australia.