I found a seed in a Cara Cara orange -- is that very common? I know that all of the rest of them were seedless and since it is a naval orange I know that regular naval oranges are seedless.

Skeet

Skeet, although navel oranges do not contain many seeds, it is not uncommon at all to find from 1 to 3 or 4 seeds within Navel Oranges. The same holds true for Cara Cara and the other Navel Orange varieties. According to government regulations any variety of citrus that normally contains 6 seeds or less can legally be sold as "seedless." Depending on your age, you might consider planting the seed. You can expect fruit in 12 to 15 years. - Millet

Don't mean to butt in here, but I just ate a cara cara (almost $1.00 @ at store!) & no seeds. I have a cara cara small tree & label says "red navel orange". I just had a discussion with Citrus Joe whether or not they are the same. Are they?

Yes Cara Cara is the red Naval orange. It is also common for them to produce variegated bud sports.

Thanks Laaz. Joe thought maybe cara cara was a sport of red navel (whatever "sport" means?).

Patty, I also had the very same discussion with Citrus Joe. Citrus Joe told me that he believes the Red Navel Orange is a sport of the Cara Cara. I'm not here to say whether Citrus Joe is right or wrong, however, I believe Cara Cara and Red Navel are one and the same variety. Some nurseries sell the tree under the name Cara Cara and some sell it under the name Red Navel. Same tree in my opinion. - Millet

Thanks Millet, I think I will take the short cut and graft some buds onto something.

Patty, let me take a shot at explaining a "sport"-- my experience with them comes from African Violets. With them, especially with bicolor varieties, you can have a "sport" develop that is a single color-- that happens in plants with multiple crowns-- all growth out of that crown will be different from the rest of the plant. You can root leaves from that portion of the plant and it will usually be like the section that it came from, however, sometimes it will revert to the bicolor form or vice versa.

So they are really the same plant with different genes being expressed--turned on or off you might say.

Skeet

Skeet, thanks for that explanation & for not leaving me more confused LOL. I think I got it! I used to grow African violets several yrs ago.