I don't have any flowering Citrus yet but I am wondering if you were careful and you pollinated a citrus that usually doesn't come true to type with it's own pollen would it produce a true to type seed because the genetics are contained within itself? Or would the seed be something realtivly close but not quite like the parent because the genetics in the pollen are varied throughout the tree? For example, Ugli fruit, Fingerlimes, Shadocks, would they be possible to produce true to type seeds from such varieties or would it be more likley with other varieties? Thank you for any input,
Sincerely,
James

thats a neat question.
From what I understand, those that DO come true to type are because they make nucellar seedlings, they develop clonal seeds W/O pollen.
Any pollenation would be crap-shoot genetics like human parentage, even with the same mom and dad, you wont get the exact same child due to genetic sorting.
now i have NO idea why, nor do I understand why citrus, and many other fruit, arent true-to-type or open pollenated like vegetables.
Bring in the experts!

If you self-pollinate a shaddock (=pummelo), the offspring will all be shaddocks, but they will be new and different (probably inferior; possibly superior) varieties. When the chromosomes split to make pollen (with sperm cells) and ovules (with egg cells) the split is more or less randomly half of the genetic material of the parent to each gamete. So while any one sperm and any one egg carries half the genetic material, they almost certainly won't contain matching, complementary halves. They'll carry some duplicate DNA of each other, and they'll be missing some, from the parent. So the offspring canot be identical to the parent.

If you self a hybrid, such as Ugli, you'll see even greater variation in the offspring.

Malcolm Manners,
Thank you I was hoping that's not how it would work but then thought it would be hard for it not to, but it seems like if you self polinated a Shadock enough and got thousands of seeds you might be able to get one that is fairly close to the parent more so than the rest but if that was true that would be a lot of work and take up lots of space just for one seedling in a thousand I suppose. With the Microcitrus and Eremocitrus I am supposing that the same thing is true as with the Shadock, where you are likley to get a nice tree but probaly not the same fruit althought it may be close. I hope that I am understanding this and what I am saying is correct, if not, by all means pleas let me know.
Sincerely,
James