Honey

Synonyms

Lu (sec. Cottin 2002)

Cultivar or taxon

Citrus reticulata Blanco (sensu Swingle and Reece 1967, Mabberley 1997, 2004; sensu Tanaka sec. Cottin 2002); Citrus nobilis Lour. x C. deliciosa Ten. (sec. NPGS/GRIN 2010)

Origin

Hodgson (1967) noted that: "Honey is a hybrid of the King mandarin with the Willowleaf (Mediterranean) mandarin made by H. B. Frost of the University of California Citrus Research Center, Riverside. This hybrid is a sister of Encore, Kinnow, and Wilking. It was described in 1943 but never released officially."

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 narrow, adjoining the blade. Leaflets one, margin entire or bluntly toothed, shade leaflet blades flat or weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades weakly conduplicate. Scent of crushed leaflets mandarin-like. Fruit broader than long; rind yellow-orange (11), orange (12), or red-orange (13); rind texture slightly rough (4-5) or medium rough (6-7); firmness leathery; navel absent; flesh orange; taste acidic-sweet.

Hodgson (1967) provided the following additional notes on the cultivar: "Fruit small-sized, oblate; rind faintly pebbled; seeds numerous. Light yellowish-orange; flavor rich and sweet. Matures early. Tree vigorous and tends strongly to alternate bearing."

References

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.

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

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

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.

Resources

Search for this cultivar in NCBI Entrez