Genoa

Synonyms

de Genes, Genoa of Messina, Genova (sec. Cottin 2002)

Cultivar or taxon

Citrus x limon (L.) Osbeck, pro sp. (sensu Mabberley 1997, Bayer et al. 2009); Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f. [=Citrus x limon (L.) Osbeck, pro sp.] (sensu Swingle and Reece 1967)

Origin

Hodgson (1967) noted that: "Genoa is a California variety which Webber (1943) says is of the Eureka type and difficult to distinguish from it. As the writer saw it in Chile, where it was taken from California and constitutes the principal variety, it appeared to be somewhat more vigorous, densely foliated, and cold-resistant. It was introduced into California about 1875 from Genoa, Italy, by Jose Rubio of Los Angeles. So far as the writer has been able to ascertain, it has achieved commercial importance only in Argentina and Chile."

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; wings absent. Leaflets one, margin bluntly toothed, shade leaflet blades weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades weakly conduplicate. Scent of crushed eaflets freshly lemon-like. Fruit as broad as long or longer than broad; rind green-yellow (6), yellow (7-10), or yellow-orange (11); rind texture slightly rough (4-5); firmness leathery; navel absent; flesh yellow; taste sour.

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.

Mabberley, D.J. 1997. A classification for edible Citrus (Rutaceae). Telopea 7: 167–172.

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.

Webber, H.J. 1943. Cultivated varieties of citrus. In: Webber, H.J. and L.D. Batchelor (eds.). The Citrus industry. I: 475-668. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.

Resources

Search for this cultivar in NCBI Entrez