Oberholzer Palmer, Palmer, Palmer Washington (sec. Cottin 2002)
Citrus x aurantium L., pro sp. [Sweet Orange Group] (sensu Mabberley 1997, Bayer et al. 2009); Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck (sensu Swingle and Reece 1967; sensu Tanaka sec. Cottin 2002)
Hodgson (1967) noted that: "The possibility would seem to exist that this variety may have originated as a variation in a nucellar budline, for it came to light about 1950 as one of four trees sent to Nelspruit by P. C. J. Oberholzer of the University of Pretoria, who had propagated them with budwood taken from a group of ten trees whose bud parent was reported to be a Washington navel seedling of unknown origin."
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 or medium, adjoining the blade. Leaflets one, margin bluntly toothed, shade leaflet blades weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades weakly or strongly conduplicate. Scent of crushd leaflets sweetly orange-like. Fruit as broad as long or longer than broad; rind yellow (7-10), yellow-orange (11), or orange (12); rind texture slightly rough (4-5); firmness leathery; navel present; flesh orange; taste acidic-sweet.
Hodgson (1967) provided the following additional notes on the cultivar:
"Fruit similar to Washington, but smaller and with less conspicuous navel. Early in maturity and holds well on tree.
Tree more vigorous than Washington; upright-spreading; outstandingly productive."
Hodgson (1967) additionally noted that:
"This new South African variety should not be confused with the Palmer Washington, a clonal selection that has been propagated to a small extent, or with the Ryan, sometimes incorrectly called the Palmer Nucellar. The variety is recorded as Accession No. 503 of the Citrus and Subtropical Fruit Research Institute of Nelspruit, eastern Transvaal, South Africa."
"Oberholzer appears to be promising and has already been planted to a considerable extent in South Africa, where it is said to be the navel variety currently most in demand."
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.
Reece, P.C., C.J. Hearn, and F.E. Gardner. 1964. Nova tangelo—an early ripening hybrid. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society 77: 109–110.
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.
Search for this cultivar in NCBI Entrez
Citrus ID Edition 2
October, 2011
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