Mandarin orange varieties explained

Mandarin oranges are cultivated in many varieties. These include both the original wild mandarins and many hybrid varieties with other Citrus species.

Stem mandarins (Citrus reticulata)

• Mangshan wild mandarins (only some, others being the genetically distinct mangshanyegan)^[1]
• Daoxian mandarines
• Suanpangan

Domesticated mandarins and hybrids

Species names are those from the Tanaka system. Recent genomic analysis would place them all in Citrus reticulata,^[2] except the C. ryukyuensis hybrids^[3]

• Sun Chu Sha^{[4] [2]}
• Nanfengmiju - one of China's most widely cultivated varieties.^[5]
• Cleopatra mandarin,^[4] acidic mandarin containing very small amount of pomelo introgression.^[2]
• Sunki,^[4] acidic mandarin containing very small amount of pomelo introgression.^[2]
• Tangerines (Citrus tangerina)^[6] is a grouping used for several distinct mandarin hybrids. Those sold in the US as tangerines have usually been Dancy, Sunburst or Murcott (Honey) cultivars. Some tangerine × grapefruit hybrids are legally sold as tangerines in the US.^{[7] [8]}
• Mediterranean/Willowleaf/Thorny (Citrus × deliciosa), a mandarin with small amounts of pomelo.
• Dalanghita (Citrus reticulata) is a smaller mandarin endemic widely cultivated in the Philippines. Also known by other local names, naranghita and sintones.^[9]
• Huanglingmiao (Citrus reticulata), a mandarin–pomelo hybrid.^{[2] [10]}
• Kishumikan (Citrus reticulata), or simply Kishu, a close clonal relative of Huanglingmiao, the two sharing a common origin before diverging as they were propagated^[2]
  • Kunenbo (Citrus nobilis) a heterogeneous group that includes at least four distinct mandarin-pomelo hybrids.^[11]
    • King (in full, 'King of Siam', Citrus nobilis) a Kunenbo mandarin with high levels of pomelo admixture, sometimes classed as a tangor.^[2]
      • Kinnow (see image), a King × Willowleaf hybrid.
    • Satsuma (Citrus unshiu), a mandarin × pomelo hybrid with more pomelo than seen in most mandarins. It derived from a cross between a Huanglingmiao/Kishu and a non-King Kunenbo that was itself a pomelo × Huanglingmiao/Kishu cross.^[2] It is a seedless variety, of which there are over 200 cultivars, including Wenzhou migana,, and ; the source of most canned mandarins, and popular as a fresh fruit due to its ease of consumption
      • Owari, a well-known cultivar that ripens during the late autumn
  • Komikan, a variety of Kishumikan
• The Ponkan (Citrus reticulata), a mandarin–pomelo hybrid^[4]
  • The Dancy tangerine (Citrus tangerina) is a hybrid, the cross of a Ponkan with another unidentified hybrid mandarin.^[2] Until the 1970s, most tangerines grown and eaten in the US were Dancys, and it was known as "Christmas tangerine"^[12] and zipper-skin tangerine^[13]
    • Iyokan (Citrus iyo), a cross between the Dancy tangerine and another Japanese mandarin variety, the kaikoukan.
• Bang Mot tangerine, a mandarin variety popular in Thailand.
• Shekwasha (Citrus depressa), a group of clonal citrus that arose from multiple independent natural crosses of C. ryukyuensis with a Sun Chu Sha relative, a very sour mandarin grown for its acidic juice.
• Tachibana, also a cluster of similar clones, deriving from natural crosses between different individual C. ryukyuensis and a clonal C. reticulata lineage with both northern and southern subspecies contribution.
• Kinnow, also known as Pakistani mandarin is popular variety in Pakistan and Middle East.

Mandarin crosses

• Tangelos, a generic term for modern mandarin (tangerine) × pomelo and mandarin × grapefruit crosses
  • The Mandelo or 'cocktail grapefruit', a cross between a Dancy/King mixed mandarin and a pomelo.^[2] The term is also sometimes used generically, like a tangelo, for recent mandarin × pomelo hybrids.
• The sour orange (Citrus x aurantium) derives from a direct cross between a pure mandarin and a pomelo^[10]
  • Lemon (Citrus x limon), a sour orange × citron hybrid.
    • Lime (Citrus x latifolia), a lemon × Key lime cross
    • Bergamot orange (Citrus x bergamia), a lemon × sour orange backcross
  • Limetta (Citrus limetta), a distinct sour orange × citron hybrid
• The common sweet orange (Citrus x sinensis) derives from a cross between a non-pure mandarin and pomelo parents^[10]
  • Tangors, or Temple oranges, are crosses between the mandarin orange and the common sweet orange; their thick rind is easy to peel, and its bright orange pulp is sour-sweet and full-flavoured. Some such hybrids are commonly called mandarins or tangerines.
    • Clementine (Citrus × clementina), a spontaneous hybrid between a Willowleaf mandarin orange and a sweet orange.^{[14] [15]} sometimes known as a "Thanksgiving Orange" or "Christmas orange", as its peak season is winter; an important commercial mandarin orange form, having displaced mikans in many markets.
      • Clemenules or Nules, a variety of Clementine named for the Valencian town where it was first bred in 1953; it is the most popular variety of Clementine grown in Spain.^[16]
      • Fairchild is a hybrid of Clementine and Orlando tangelo
    • Murcott, a mandarin × sweet orange hybrid,^[17] one parent being the King.^[11]
      • Tango is a proprietary seedless mid-late season irradiated selection of Murcott developed by the University of California Citrus Breeding Program.^[18]
    • Kiyomi (Citrus unshiu × sinensis) is a Satsuma/sweet orange hybrid from Japan
      • Dekopon, a hybrid between Kiyomi and ponkan, marketed in the United States as Sumo Citrus(R)
  • Grapefruit (Citrus x paradisi), the result of backcrossing the sweet orange with pomelo
  • Meyer lemon (Citrus x meyer), a cross between a mandarin × pomelo hybrid and a citron.
  • Palestinian sweet lime (Citrus x limettioides), a distinct (mandarin × pomelo) × citron hybrid
• Rangpur lime (Citrus x limonia), a pure-mandarin × citron cross
• Rough lemon (Citrus x jambhiri), a pure-mandarin × citron cross, distinct from rangpur
• Volkamer lemon (Citrus volkameriana), a pure-mandarin x citron cross, distinct from rangpur and rough lemon
• Jabara (Citrus jabara), a Kunenbo mandarin × yuzu cross.^[11]
• several of the kumquat-hybrid Citrofortunella, including calamansi, citrangequat, orangequat, mandarinquat and sunquat

Non-mandarins

• Mangshanyegans, long thought to be mandarins, are a separate species.^[10]

Notes and References

1. Wang . Lun . etal . Genome of Wild Mandarin and Domestication History of Mandarin . Molecular Plant . 11 . 8 . 1024–1037 . 2018 . 10.1016/j.molp.2018.06.001 . 29885473 . free.
2. 3 . Wu . Guohong Albert . Terol . Javier . Ibanez . Victoria . López-García . Antonio . Pérez-Román . Estela . Borredá . Carles . Domingo . Concha . Tadeo . Francisco R. . Carbonell-Caballero . Jose . Alonso . Roberto . Curk . Franck . February 2018 . Genomics of the origin and evolution of Citrus . Nature . 554 . 7692 . 311–316 . 10.1038/nature25447 . 29414943 . 2018Natur.554..311W . free . 20.500.11939/5741 . free.
3. Diversification of mandarin citrus by hybrid speciation and apomixis . Wu . Guohong Albert . Sugimoto . Chikatoshi . Kinjo . Hideyasu . Asama . Chika . Mitsube . Fumimasa . Talon . Manuel . Gmitter . Grederick G Jr . Rokhsar . Daniel S . . 2021 . 12 . 1 . 4377 . 10.1038/s41467-021-24653-0 . 34312382 . 8313541 . 2021NatCo..12.4377W . free. and Supplement
4. Next generation haplotyping to decipher nuclear genomic interspecific admixture in Citrus species: analysis of chromosome 2 . BMC Genetics . 15 . 152 . 2014 . Curk . Franck . Ancillo . Gema . Garcia-Lor . Andres . Luro . François . Perrier . Xavier . Jacquemoud-Collet . Jean-Pierre . Navarro . Luis . Ollitrault . Patrick . 10.1186/s12863-014-0152-1 . 25544367 . 4302129 . free .
5. News: Karp . David . 13 January 2010 . The Seedless Kishu, a small but mighty mandarin . . 17 January 2021.
6. Web site: Citrus tangerina Yu.Tanaka — The Plant List . www.theplantlist.org . 4 September 2019.
7. Web site: Robinson Tangerine . Larry K. Jackson and Stephen H. Futch . ufl.edu . 2018-07-10.
8. Web site: 20-13.0061. Sunburst Tangerines; Classification and Standards, 20-13. Market Classification, Maturity Standards And Processing Or Packing Restrictions For Hybrids, D20. Departmental, 20. Department of Citrus, Florida Administrative Code . Commernet . 2011 . State of Florida . 14 May 2015 .
9. Web site: Dalanghita . www.medicinalplantsdatabase.com . 8 October 2020 . 17 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200717051057/http://medicinalplantsdatabase.com/portfolio/dalanghita/.
10. Sequencing of diverse mandarin, pomelo and orange genomes reveals a complex history of admixture during citrus domestication . Nature . G Albert Wu . etal . 32 . 7 . 10.1038/nbt.2906 . 656–662 . 24908277 . 4113729 . 2014 .
11. Shimizu . Tokurou . Kitajima . Akira . Nonaka . Keisuke . Yoshioka . Terutaka . Ohta . Satoshi . Goto . Shingo . Toyoda . Atsushi . Fujiyama . Asao . Mochizuki . Takako . Nagasaki . Hideki . Kaminuma . Eli . Nakamura . Yasukazu . Hybrid Origins of Citrus Varieties Inferred from DNA Marker Analysis of Nuclear and Organelle Genomes . PLOS ONE . 11 . 11 . e0166969 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0166969 . 27902727 . 5130255 . 2016 . 2016PLoSO..1166969S . free .
12. Web site: 2014 . Ark of Taste, Dancy Tangerine, Citrus Tangerina v. Dancy . https://web.archive.org/web/20140712213717/http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark-item/dancy-tangerine . 12 July 2014 . 17 January 2021 . Slow Food USA.
13. Web site: HS169/CH074: Dancy Tangerine . Larry K. Jackson and Stephen H. Futch . ufl.edu . 2018-06-06.
14. 10.1038/nbt.2954 . 32 . 7 . A genealogy of the citrus family . Nature Biotechnology . 640–642 . 25004231 . Velasco . R . Licciardello . C . 2014 . 9357494 . free .
15. Book: Edible: An Illustrated Guide to the World's Food Plants . . 73 . 2008 . 978-1-4262-0372-5 .
16. Web site: Nules . Toni Siebert . 30 July 2009 . Citrus Variety Database . University Of California . 9 June 2011 . 28 September 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928212116/http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/nules.html .
17. Web site: HS174/CH078: Murcott (Honey Tangerine) . Stephen H. Futch and Larry K. Jackson . ufl.edu . 2018-05-09.
18. Web site: 2010 . Tango mandarin; Citrus reticulata Blanco . 8 March 2019 . Citrus Variety Collection . College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of California Riverside.