Mato

Synonyms

Madowendan, Mato Buntan, Tim Shan (sec. Cottin 2002)

Cultivar or taxon

Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr. (sensu Mabberley 1997, Bayer et al. 2009; sensu Tanaka sec. Cottin 2002); Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck (sensu Swingle and Reece 1967)

Origin

Hodgson (1967) noted that:

"This variety is said to have been taken from South China to Taiwan about 1700 and thence—but much later—to Japan. Mato is currently first in importance among pummelo varieties in Formosa and ranks third in Japan. From the description, it is obviously of the small-tree Siamese type and has numerous resemblances to such varieties as Kao Pan and Kao Phuang.

Mato is the seed parent of the comparatively new and promising Tanikawa buntan, the pollen parent of which is presumed to be the Japanese Sanbôkan. That it is of hybrid origin is strongly suggested by the facts that (1) the tree is more vigorous, conspicuously upright in growth habit and appreciably more cold resistant, and (2) the fruit is smaller, with much thinner rind and deeper color, and the flesh is tender, juicy, and of excellent flavor. Moreover, the number of segments is about a third fewer and the season of maturity late."

Description

Crown compact or dense, not weeping. First-year twig surface pubescent; second- or third-year twig surface striate; thorns absent or not persistent; prickles absent or not persistent. Petiole pubescent, length medium; wings medium or wide, adjoining the blade. Leaflets one, margin bluntly toothed, shade leaflet blades weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades weakly or strongly conduplicate. Scent of crushed leaflets sweetly orange-like. Fruit as broad as long or longer than broad; rind green-yellow (6), yellow (7-10), or yellow-orange (11); rind texture smooth (1-3); firmness leathery; navel absent; flesh yellow; taste grapefruit-like.

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

"Fruit medium-large, broadly obovoid to pyriform; seedy. Light-yellow at maturity. Rind medium-thick; surface coarsely pitted, pebbled from protuberant oil glands; tightly adherent. Segments numerous (12-16) and carpellary membranes thin but tough. Flesh color light greenish-yellow; crisp, somewhat tough, lacking in juice; flavor sweet (mildly acid), sometimes with trace of bitterness. Early in maturity.

Tree dwarfed and small, round-topped and drooping; twigs and shoot growth short, thick, and densely pubescent; leaves large, thick, and pubescent on the lower surface."

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.

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 or NCBI Nucleotide