Hi all,

Does anybody know if dunstan citrumelo is zygotic or nucellar?

Want to line breed and which type will determine if pollen or seed parent.

Thanks.

What is " line breed?"

Zygotic is pollinated seed, nucellar is from the nucellus of the mother tree, thus identical to parent tree. - Millet

Line breeding is used to improve stock by selecting the descendants from a particular cross and crossing them together so as to select for a particular trait.

It has long been used particularly to improve livestock.


Using fast flowering trifoliate the generation time between each cross can be much shortened and can effectively try and concentrate the harfiness genes from trifoliate with the better flavour of the citrus parent.

Swingle citrumelo and ichang lemon produce some zygotic seedlings and can be crossed with fast trifoliate. The zygotic seedling will floeer quickly and then can be used on something else of similar ilk to again produce zygotic seedlings.

Select the hardy se
edlings for flavour and cross these together and select best to cross
Together again.
So prefer plants that produce some zygotic seeds do can carry on down line. Would prefer to use something other than swingle which really tastes bad.

Have seen nothing to suggest otherwise in either American or chinese liturature.

Only issue seems to be that seedlings people have in europe are slow growing (are they going to flower in 18months).

Problems with die back seem to be due to faults in culture.

Almost certainly need ideal growing conditions to ensure earliest flowering.

OK I do it. I'll put one (only one to begin with) in the ground.

Whilst I'm happy to discuss merits or otherwise of fast flowering trifoliate thread has lost sight of my opening question :-


Is dunstan citrumelo zygotic or nucellar?

From what I read about fast flowering trifoliate in US and precosious trifoliate are the same gene mutation affecting juvenility. Iylia not sure which chinese poncirus you mean when you say everblooming?

I do not know about Dunstan, however based on the zygotic seed frequency of Swingle, Sacaton and Bella Citrumelos, which normally produce between 15 to 18% seeds that are zygotic, I would expect that Dunstan would be about the same. - Millet

Thanks millet that was type of answer was hoping for.

At those rates worthwhile using as seed parent to try and concentrate and improve the good traits it has.