Kumquats, or cumquats in Australian English, are a group of small, angiosperm, fruit-bearing trees in the family Rutaceae. Their taxonomy is disputed. They were previously classified as forming the now-historical genus Fortunella or placed within Citrus, sensu lato. Different classifications have alternatively assigned them to anywhere from a single species, Citrus japonica, to numerous species representing each cultivar. Recent genomic analysis defines three pure species, Citrus hindsii, C. margarita and C. crassifolia, with C. × japonica being a hybrid of the last two.
A mandarin orange, often simply called mandarin, is a small, rounded citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. The mandarin is small and oblate, unlike the roughly spherical sweet orange. The taste is sweeter and stronger than the common orange. A ripe mandarin orange is firm to slightly soft, heavy for its size, and pebbly-skinned. The peel is thin and loose, with little white mesocarp, so they are usually easier to peel and to split into segments. Hybrids have these traits to lesser degrees. The mandarin orange is tender and is damaged easily by cold. It can be grown in tropical and subtropical areas.
The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color, that is considered either a variety of Citrus reticulata, the mandarin orange, or a closely related species, under the name Citrus tangerina, or yet as a hybrid of mandarin orange varieties, with some pomelo contribution.
The tangelo, Citrus × tangelo, is a citrus fruit hybrid of a Citrus reticulata variety, such as mandarin orange or tangerine, and a Citrus maxima variety, such as a pomelo or grapefruit. The name is a portmanteau of 'tangerine' and 'pomelo'.
The pomelo, also known as a shaddock and from the family Rutaceae, is the largest citrus fruit. It is an ancestor of several cultivated citrus species, including the bitter orange and the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid, citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefruit, the pomelo is commonly eaten and used for festive occasions throughout Southeast and East Asia. As with the grapefruit, phytochemicals in the pomelo have the potential for drug interactions.
Citrus unshiu is a semi-seedless and easy-peeling citrus species, also known as the satsuma mandarin or Japanese mandarin. During the Edo period of Japan, kishu mikans were more popular because there was a popular superstition that eating Citrus unshiu without seeds made people prone to infertility. Citrus unshiu became popular in Japan after modernization started in the Meiji period. It was introduced to the West from the Satsuma region of Japan in 1878.
Yuzu is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of East Asian origin. Yuzu has been cultivated mainly in East Asia, though it has also recently been grown in New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Italy, and France.
The limequat is a citrus hybrid that is the result of a cross between the Key lime and the kumquat, hybridized by Walter Tennyson Swingle in 1909.
The orange, also called sweet orange to distinguish it from the bitter orange, is the fruit of a tree in the family Rutaceae. Botanically, this is the hybrid Citrus × sinensis, between the pomelo and the mandarin orange. The chloroplast genome, and therefore the maternal line, is that of pomelo. There are many related hybrids including of mandarins and sweet orange. The sweet orange has had its full genome sequenced.
The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, compiled in the 700s, were the first books in Japan to describe citrus fruits. The Nihon Shoki states that a man named Tajimamori brought back citrus fruits from the Tokoyo no kuni on the orders of Emperor Suinin, which is thought to refer to the tachibana orange that grows wild in Japan. The Man'yōshū, a collection of poems from the same period, contains many poems about tachibana orange, and because of its strong acidity at the time, it was dried and used for medicinal and ornamental purposes rather than for food. The Kokin Wakashū, compiled in the 900s, mentions that tachibana orange was burned and used as incense to give a nice fragrance to kimonos. In Japan, tachibana orange is a symbol of eternity and is the motif for the Order of Culture.
Citrus crassifolia, the Meiwa kumquat, is a species of kumquat; a type of citrus fruit in the genus Citrus, family Rutaceae. It was first described by the American botanist Walter Tennyson Swingle in 1915 as Fortunella crassifolia.
Citrofortunella are a large group of commercial hybrids that cross the kumquat with other citrus. In the system of citrus taxonomy established by Swingle, kumquats were placed in a different genus, Fortunella, from Citrus, which included citron, mandarin orange, pomelo and papedas. The result of genetic crosses between kumquats and these other citrus would then be intergeneric hybrids, so a novel genus name was coined for them in 1975, by compounding the names of the contributing genera to form Citrofortunella. That the genus is of a hybrid nature is represented by a multiplication sign before the genus name, for example × Citrofortunella microcarpa. Recent phylogenetic work has shown kumquats to fall within Citrus rather than belonging to a distinct genus, meaning these would no longer be considered intergeneric hybrids, and use of Citrofortunella as a distinct genus name for these hybrids loses taxonomic validity. All would be placed instead within Citrus.
Clymenia is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae with two species. The genus is often included in Citrus.
Citrus taxonomy is the botanical classification of the species, varieties, cultivars, and graft hybrids within the genus Citrus and related genera, found in cultivation and in the wild.
Procimequat is a triploid citrus hybrid or transgeneric hybrid, x Fortunella hindsii, in which the limequat that itself is a cross between lime and a round kumquat, was backcrossed with the primitive Hong Kong kumquat.
The Murcott is a tangor, or mandarin–sweet orange hybrid.
The Dancy tangerine is one of the oldest and formerly most popular American citrus varieties, but is now rarely sold.
Citrus hindsii, the Hong Kong kumquat, is a species of kumquat; a type of citrus fruit in the genus Citrus, family Rutaceae. This specific name is first published in World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1): 15 (1999). Recent phylogenetic analysis suggested that C. hindsii is a single 'true' species.
Kobayashi mikan is a Citrus hybrid cultivated for its edible fruit.
Mandarin oranges are cultivated in many varieties. These include both the original wild mandarins and many hybrid varieties with other Citrus species.
