It is fine, but just to remind you:
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RE: Yes, there is a tasty zone 7 citrus!


Posted by dave_in_nova VA zone 7a (My Page) on
Thu, Nov 28, 13 at 20:20

Hi all,

After much corespondence with different people, we now believe this Citrandarin is a tissue-cultured clone of US-852. It took a while to investigate all this. US-852 was apparently developed at the Univ. of Cal - Riverside.

Budwood was sent to Florida to a Tissue-culture lab. It was hoped this would be a good rootstock for the Florida citrus industry.

For numerous reasons, they decided against it -- one being that its seeds are highly zygotic and produced maybe only 50% true clones. Tissue culture was apparently not cost-effective.

So, the tissue-lab unloaded its plants and several retailers bought them up to sell as a hardy citrus novelty.

I purchased the plant from Stan McKenzie (McKenzie Farms). Panama John has been growing it. Last year it had 3 fruits. This year around 15....
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what the guy that originally bought this plant wrote.

When a tissue culture lab takes cells from a mature plant and multiplies them does that reset the tissue to the juvenile state? If so do we know why?

I think Stan believes it was a tissue cultured plant.

I'm thinking there's a 95% chance it was a tissued-cultured US-852 since it came FROM a tissue-culture lab BUT... since I can't seem to find out where this lab is, I can't talk to anyone there about it. I've run into a dead end.

So... we can't say with absolute 100% certainty that it is a tissue-cultured US-852. There's still the slightest chance it was a seedling. But I would say it's still highly likely it's a US-852.

dave

I am wondering if there is nobody who can compare the taste of US 852 with the taste of this new citrandarin. Joe refered to the taste of the rind. If US 852 has some trifoliate taste at least in the rind then why this discussion? Then the citrandarin is obviously different.
Who has tasted US 852 and can tell more?

Till:

Good question!

Stan has sent us some apparently true US-852 fruit. The one fruit that was sampled apparently had a strong trifoliate taste in the rind. We don't know anyone else growing US-852.

So whatever Stan is growing is different than what we have up here.

I have never actually tasted what we have up here -- at least not in its prime, I am going by what Boca Joe has said about its flavor.

I wonder then, if the tissue lab unloaded some seed-grown plants along with tissue-cultured plants and what we have is a zygotic seedling.

So many questions that may never get answered.

Thank you Dave for your answer! Then it is clear for me that US852 is something different.

But it would be interesting for the sake of further comparison to have more data about US852. How early do its fruits mature? What is the taste of the pulp? Leaf form etc. As somebody who is interested in breeding I would like to get a better guess how much of this citrandarin is just Changsha inheritance and how much comes from Poncirus.

Till,
Your fellow German from Hamburg Andreas Voss has (had?) a mature US852 and described its fruits as having resemblance to poncirus but with significantly less poncirus aftertaste.

I tasted an 852 last week, not good, trifoliate SMELL and background taste too.

Our PVHM had a great pleasant orange fragrance when I cut it open last week. No trifoliate smell!

Boca Joe

whatever it is I am excited for you guys and to be quite honest myself. It gives some hope that one day there could be a hardy edible for my Zone 7. Id bet it would need a good micro climate here and possible some protection as we can have day after day never getting above the Mid 20'sF.


mike