Siam (sec. Cottin 2002)
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)
Hodgson (1967) noted that: "This clone, which was received by the Citrus Experiment Station, Riverside, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1929 under the name Siamese Pink (CES 2246) corresponds [w]ell with the variety Siam, named and described by Wester (1917). According to Wester, it was introduced into the Philippine Islands in 1913. In California, when fully ripe it is clearly one of the best in flavor, although sometimes it has a trace of bitterness."
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, tucking beneath blade. Leaflets one, margin bluntly toothed, shade leaflet blades flat or weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades flat or weakly conduplicate. Leaflets not scented when crushed. Fruit broader than long, as broad as long, or longer than broad; rind green-yellow (6), yellow (7-10), yellow-orange (11), or orange (12); rind texture slightly rough (4-5); firmness leathery; navel absent; flesh red/purplish-tinged; taste grapefruit-like.
Hodgson (1967) provided the following additional notes on the cultivar:
"Fruit large, broadly obovate to short pyriform with shallow depression at apex; nearly seedless. Light yellow at maturity in California, but probably pink-tinted in semitropical climates. Rind medium-thick; surface smooth; tightly adherent. Segments numerous and carpellary membranes moderately tough, but commonly split open at axis at maturity. Flesh coarse-grained, pink-tinged; very juicy; flavor grapefruit-like (subacid with trace of bitterness). Late in maturity.
Tree vigorous, very large, and spreading; leaves typical—broad-pointed; twigs and shoot growth faintly pubescent."
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.
Wester, P.J. 1917. New or noteworthy tropical fruits in the Philippines. Philippine Agricultural Review 10: 8–23.
Search for this cultivar in NCBI Entrez
Citrus ID Edition 2
October, 2011
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