Citrange

Origin

Hodgson (1967) noted that: "The term citrange was announced and the first variety named and described in 1904 (Webber and Swingle 1905)..."

Swingle and Reece (1967) noted that: "As the genus Poncirus is monotypic, all its hybrids are intergeneric, i.e., either bigeneric or trigeneric. The first adequately safeguarded hybrids of Poncirus and Citrus were made by Swingle in 1897. These hybrids, called citranges, showed such striking differences, even between sister hybrids grown from a single fruit, that a number of them (Rusk, Willits, Morton, Coleman, Savage, Rustic, and Saunders) were named, described, and illustrated. (See Swingle and Webber 1898, p. 400, text fig. 13; Webber and Swingle 1905, pp. 223-35, pls. 10-16, text figs. 12 and 13; Webber 1907, pp. 329-36, pls. 17-20; Swingle 1910, pp. 36-41, pls. 1-2; idem, 1913[a], pp. 83-87, pls. on pp. 84, 86, 88, 90, 92; idem, 1913[b], pp. 382-86, figs. 1-4; idem, 1927, pp. 19-21.)"

Description

Crown compact or dense, not weeping. First-year twig surface glabrous; second- or third-year twig surface striate; thorns absent or not persistent or straight; prickles absent or not persistent. Petiole glabrous, length medium, long or very long, wings narrow or medium, adjoining the blade. Leaflets one or three, margin crenate/crenulate or bluntly toothed, rachis wings absent, shade leaflet blades weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades weakly or strongly conduplicate. Scent of crushed leaflets not apparent, or sweetly orange-like, spicy or peppery (?), or somewhat to strongly malodorous when crushed. Fruit broader than long or as broad as long or longer than broad; rind green-yellow (6), yellow (7-10), yellow-orange (11), orange (12), or red-orange (13); rind texture slightly rough (4-5), medium rough (6-7), or rough (8); firmness leathery; navel absent; flesh orange or yellow; taste sour.

Hodgson (1967) provided the following additional notes on the cultivar: "The influence of the trifoliate orange is strongly marked in the citranges as evidenced by the trifoliolate nature of their leaves, the acidity and bitterness of their fruits, and the cold-hardiness of the trees. The influence of the sweet orange is shown, however, in the evergreen nature of the trees, though a few are semi-deciduous, and in their greater vigor. Additionally, the fruit is usually much larger and more orange-like in appearance. In general, however, the citranges exhibit some degree of intermediacy between the parental species. Of great horticultural importance in connection with their use as rootstocks is the fact that with few exceptions they come remarkably true from seed. They are highly polyembryonic and apparently rarely develop zygotic embryos (Swingle, 1927)."

Notes

Hodgson (1967) has additionally noted that: "In Webber's opinion, the citrange varieties that most closely approach the sweet orange in size, appearance, and edibility in the fresh state, and hence may be useful as juice fruits for dooryard planting in regions too cold for oranges and mandarins, are Morton, Coleman, and Savage. He also recommends them as ornamentals.

Swingle and Reece (1967) also noted that: "Since, in general, the citranges exhibit some of the most desirable features of the trifoliate orange combined with the greater vigor and wider range of soil adaptation of the sweet orange, some of them are currently of promise or already have achieved importance as rootstocks. Principal among these are Carrizo, Rusk, and Troyer...""

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.

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.

Swingle, W.T. and H.J. Webber. 1898. Hybrids and their utilization in plant breeding. U.S. Department of Agriculture Yearbook 1897: 383–420.

Swingle, W.T. 1910. New types of citrus fruits for Florida. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society 23: 36–41.

Swingle, W.T. 1913a. New citrous fruits. American Breeders Magazine 4: 83–95.

Swingle, W.T. 1913b. Variation in first-generation hybrids (imperfect dominance): its possible explanation through zygotaxis. Comptes Rendus de la 4'eme Conference Internationale de Genetique [Paris, 1911] 1913: 381–394.

Swingle, W.T. 1927. Seed production in sterile citrus hybrids, its scientific explanation and practical significance. Memoirs, New York Horticultural Society 3: 19–21.

Webber, H.J. and W.T. Swingle. 1905. New citrus creations of the Department of Agriculture. U.S. Department of Agriculture Yearbook 1904: 221–240.

Webber, H.J. 1907. New citrus and pineapple productions of the Department of Agriculture. U.S. Department of Agriculture Yearbook 1906: 329–346.

Resources

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