Calamondin

Synonyms

Chi Chieh, China Orange, Chuit, de Madure, des Philippines, Gan, Golden Lime, Hazara, Hong Kong, Kalamondin, Kesturi, Limonsito, Ma-nao-wan, Musk, Shikikitsu, Shikinari-mikan, Si, Ji, Ju, Sijiyou, Small Flowered, Soleiado, Som-ma-pide, Szukai-kat, Tokan, Tokin Kan, Zwergorange (sec. Cottin 2002)

Cultivar or taxon

Citrus x microcarpa Bunge [=Citrus reticulata Blanco x Citrus japonica Thunb.] (sensu Mabberley 2004, Bayer et al. 2009); Citrus reticulata Blanco var. austera Swingle ? x Fortunella sp. ? (sensu Swingle and Reece 1967); Citrus madurensis Lour. (sensu Hodgson 1967; sensu Tanaka sec. Cottin 2002)

Origin

Hodgson (1967) noted that: "Undoubtedly of Chinese origin, this fruit was early and widely distributed throughout the Orient, including Indonesia and the Philippines, where the earliest descriptions were made. Although mandarin-like in most respects, it has similarities with the kumquat and sometimes has been confused with that fruit, particularly in India and Ceylon."

Swingle and Reece (1967) noted that: "It may possibly turn out to be a back-cross of an F1 Citrus X Fortunella hybrid on Citrus reticulata. This could probably be determined by experimental hybridization. This hybrid enters into the parentage of the interesting trigeneric hybrid, the Altamaha or Glen citrangedin."

The Chiefland Budwood Facility (2010) provided the following notes on the cultivar (clone DPI-555): "From a seedling group of Calamondins planted along the Arboretum East fence, originally entered program in 1953 from Indian Rocks Nurseries in Pinellas County. Small acid fruit used to make marmalade and flavor drinks. Grown as an ornamental and as a house plant. Origin: China, natural hybrid of mandarin and Fortunella margarita, also known as Panama orange, Calamansi, Chinese orange. Introduced into Florida by Dr. Fairchild in 1899."

Description

Crown compact or dense, not weeping. First-year twig surface glabrous; second- or third-year twig surface striate; thorns absent or not persistent; prickles absent or not persistent. Petiole glabrous, length short or medium; wings absent, or if present then narrow and adjoining the blade. Leaflets one, margin entire, crenate/crenulate or bluntly toothed, shade leaflet blades flat or weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades weakly conduplicate. Leaflets dough-scented when crushed. Fruit broader than long; rind yellow (7-10), yellow-orange (11), orange (12), or red-orange (13); rind texture smooth (1-3) or slightly rough (4-5); firmness leathery; navel absent; flesh orange; taste acidic-sweet or sour.

 

Hodgson (1967) provided the following additional notes on the cultivar:

"Fruit very small, oblate to spherical; apex flattened or depressed. Rind color orange to orange-red; very thin, smooth, and finely pitted, easily separable only at maturity; sweet and edible. Segments about 9 and axis small and semi-hollow. Flesh orange-colored; tender, juicy, and acid. Seeds few, small, plump, polyembryonic, and with green cotyledons. Fruit holds on tree remarkably well.

 

Tree of medium vigor, highly productive, upright and columnar, nearly thornless; leaves small, broadly oval, and mandarin-like. Strongly cold-resistant."

Swingle and Reece (1967) additionally provided the following notes on the cultivar: "This hybrid has depressed-globose fruits with a very thin peel, that becomes loose as the fruit ripens, and with intensely acid pulp. The segments number only seven to ten."

The Chiefland Budwood Facility (2010) additionally provided the following notes on the cultivar (clone DPI-555): "Description: Tall evergreen, polyembryonic, resistant to foot rot, grown commercially in the Philippines to make acid beverages, cold hardy along the southern Gulf coast, Season: November-April"

Notes

Hodgson (1967) additionally provided the following notes: "The Calamondin has little economic importance for the fruit but is widely used as an ornamental in Florida and California. It is especially attractive as a potted or tubbed plant in fruit and currently is extensively grown and shipped to the population centers of the United States for use as a winter house plant. It also makes an excellent rootstock for the oval or Nagami kumquat, when grown for similar purposes. Peters, an attractive, variegated-leaf form is grown somewhat in California, primarily for landscape use."

References

Bayer, R.J., D.J. Mabberley, C. Morton, C.H. Miller, I.K. Sharma, B.E. Pfeil, S. Rich, R. Hitchcock, and S. Sykes. 2009. A molecular phylogeny of the orange subfamily (Rutaceae: Aurantioideae) using nine cpDNA sequences. American Journal of Botany 96: 668–685.

Chiefland Budwood Facility. 2010. 2010 Annual report July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010. Bureau of Citrus Budwood Registration, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Winter Haven.

Cottin, R. 2002. Citrus of the World: A citrus directory. Version 2.0. France: SRA INRA-CIRAD.

Hodgson, R.W. 1967. Horticultural varieties of Citrus. In: Reuther, W., H.J. Webber, and L.D. Batchelor (eds.). The Citrus industry, rev. University of California Press. http://lib.ucr.edu/agnic/webber/Vol1/Chapter4.html.

Hume, H.H. 1926. The cultivation of citrus fruits. The Macmillan Co., New York. 561 pp.

Mabberley, D.J. 2004. Citrus (Rutaceae): A review of recent advances in etymology, systematics and medical applications. Blumea 49: 481–498.

Ochse, J.J. 1931. Fruits and fruitculture in the Dutch East Indies . G. Kolff & Co., Batavia. 180 pp.

Swingle, W.T. 1914–17. Citrus and related genera. In: Bailey, L. H. Standard cyclopedia of horticulture. The Macmillan Co., New York. 6 vol.

Swingle, W.T. 1942. Three new varieties and two new combinations in Citrus and related genera of the orange subfamily. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 21: 23–26.

Swingle, W.T. and P.C. Reece. 1967. The botany of Citrus and its wild relatives. In: Reuther, W., H.J. Webber, and L.D. Batchelor (eds.). The Citrus industry. Ed. 2. Vol. I. University of California, Riverside. http://lib.ucr.edu/agnic/webber/Vol1/Chapter3.html.

Tanaka, T. 1933. Kankitsu no kenkyû. (Citrus studies.). Yokendo Shoten, Tokyo. 463 pp.

Resources

Search for this cultivar in NCBI Entrez or NCBI Nucleotide

Additional information on this cultivar at University of California: Riverside Citrus Variety Collection