Moro

Synonyms

Belladonna Sanguigno, Dam Al Zaghoul, Moro Blood, Moro de Catania, Selezionato (sec. Cottin 2002)

Cultivar or taxon

Citrus x aurantium L., pro sp. [Blood Orange Group] (sensu Mabberley 1997, Bayer et al. 2009); Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck (sensu Swingle and Reece 1967; sensu Tanaka sec. Cottin 2002)

Origin

Hodgson (1967) noted that: "Of comparatively recent Sicilian origin and thought to have developed from the Sanguinello Moscato variety, Moro did not attain the popularity of Tarocco for several decades. More recently, it has been planted to a considerable extent in Sicily, where it now enjoys equal favor."

The Chiefland Budwood Facility (2010) provided the following notes on the cultivar (clone 3-11): "A seedling selection of Moro from the Coca-Cola variety block at Indiantown. Entered into program in 1986. Not maintained in the Chiefland Foundation."

The Chiefland Budwood Facility (2010) provided the following notes on the cultivar (clone DPI-50-19): "Seedling established in arboretum from fruit provided by Dr. Bill Castle in 1988. Origin: Sicily, Moro means Moor."

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, if present, narrow, adjoining the blade. Leaflets one, margin bluntly toothed, shade leaflet blades weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades weakly conduplicate. Scent of crushed leaflets sweetly orange-like. Fruit as broad as long or longer than broad; rind yellow (7-10), yellow-orange (11), orange (12), or red-orange (13); rind texture slightly rough (4-5); firmness leathery; navel absent; flesh orange or red/purplish-tinged; taste acidic-sweet.

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

"Fruit medium to medium-large, subglobose, round or obovoid; base somewhat furrowed; apex commonly flattened; areole faint or lacking; seeds few or none, but with chalazal spot purplish-red. Rind medium-thick, moderately adherent, and somewhat pebbled. Orange-colored at maturity with light pink blush or red streaks at advanced maturity. Flesh deeply pigmented (almost violet-red); juicy; flavor pleasant. Very early in maturity (earliest of the commercial blood oranges), but holds well on the tree and stores and ships well. A distinctive aroma develops with advanced maturity, but flavor deteriorates if held too long in storage and becomes objectionable to some.

Tree of medium vigor and size, spreading and round-topped; very productive fruit (generally in clusters of three or more).

Moro is distinctive in that pigmentation develops early and strongly in the flesh, ranging from medium to intense, whereas rind pigmentation may be lacking or at best only moderately developed. Thus, the Moro does not develop external pigmentation in the coastal area of southern California, where conditions are unfavorable to development of blood coloration, but almost always exhibits far more internal coloration than any other variety. This variety undoubtedly belongs to the deep blood group."

The Chiefland Budwood Facility (2010) provided the following additional notes on the cultivar (clone DPI-50-19): "Is a dark blood type in Italy, red pigment is anthocyanin, early maturity."

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.

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.

Resources

Search for this cultivar in NCBI Entrez, NCBI Nucleotide, or NCBI Expressed Sequence Tags

Additional information on this cultivar at University of California: Riverside Citrus Variety Collection (2)