Okay, I posted about it in the other fruits section in response to Joe's pom tasting thread, but didn't get any response to my call for others' thoughts on this. Please let me know if you think it's at all possible or completely legend. Thanks.

harveyc wrote:

I've had some interesting discussions with a guy in Portugal that is related to both pomegranates and citrus. He is very convinced that when he was young that a neighbor grafted together an orange and a pomegranate (an approach graft, it sounds like, retaining both rootstocks, removing the pomegranate top after a union formed) and his neighbor created a pigmented orange. I'm highly skeptical, but his says he is sure of it. I've done some searching and found discussions of it at http://tinyurl.com/pomorange (Google book link to 18th century article) and http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/united-kingdom/156784-blood-orange-sanguinello.html (read last post and tell me if you understand the point the author is trying to make to support that he thinks it's plausible). What do you think? I've already discussed it with Joe and he's skeptical as well, but I'll probably give it a try!

This sounds very interesting, just the type of crazy thing I like to try. I had a similar idea for grafting together pine and citrus to see what would happen, probably nothing good but I think I'll try it next spring/summer anyway.

The last post in that discussion where he was talking about it being plausible, he was agreeing with the previous poster's comment that said the nursery man might have confused pomegranate with poncirus trifoliata. He wasn't saying he thinks pomegranate/orange graft is plausible. Doesn't matter, I think it would be fun if you tried it anyway. If you do try it, good luck and keep us posted here!

Thanks for clearing up my confusion on that post.

A year or two ago some guy from another country was talking about grafting two bananas together ("marrying them", he called it, saying the genetics got transferred over from one to the other. It seemed like crazy talk but I remember doing some searching and finding something where genes can, in fact, cross over. It's been quite a while and I don't remember the specifics about that, but remember being surprised by finding that paper. All we need are a few anthonacin genes to get transferred!

You're welcome. I've never heard of that genetic swapping banana paper, but it reminds me of Citrus Bizzarria (thanks to Citrange for making the webpage):

http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/citrusvarieties/bizzarria.html

If we could do something like this between very cold hardy pine and citrus to get a very cold hardy citrus that would be awesome

Does pine taste good? Isn't there some other tasty and hardy plant you can think of for your cross??? Feijoa?

Harvey, I simply do not believe that citrus and pomegranate can be successfully grafted. They are from two different genus. However, if a person would wish to taste such an impossible grafted combination, the two fruits could be juiced, poured together, than drank. - Millet (765-)

Oak and chestnut are from two different genus but are sometimes grafted together, but they are at least from the same Fagace family.

This is also quite different than a typical graft (even a typical approach graft) as it appears both rootstocks are retained. Can gene transfer take place after being joined together?

I guess invalid claims can be made for centuries, but I just find it odd.

Oh, and Millet, a good friend of mine regularly combines his pomegranate and orange juices. I'm trying to see if I can save him a step!

Harvey you wrote above: ....."Oak and chestnut are from two different genus but are sometimes grafted together, but they are at least from the same Fagace family."

What you wrote above is a common occurrence. Poncirus, Fortunella, and Citrus also belong to different genera, just as your Oak and Chestnuts, but they are graftable. Poncirus, Fortunella, and Citrus all belong to the subtribe Citrinae, of the tribe Ceterae, and of the plant family Rutaceae. God Bless my friend. - Millet (765-)

Millet, I wrote that because of your comment:

Millet wrote:

Harvey, I simply do not believe that citrus and pomegranate can be successfully grafted. They are from two different genus. However, if a person would wish to taste such an impossible grafted combination, the two fruits could be juiced, poured together, than drank. - Millet (765-)

It seemed that you were using the fact that they were from two different genus as a reason they couldn't be grafted together, but I may have misunderstood your comment.

God bless, my friend.

Graft Chimeras are possible, where the scion and stock combine, and new growth arises which is genetically a combination of both. Probably unlikely outside the normal rules of grafting compatability.
The pomegranite x citrus would seem to be more simply explained by a limb sport or bud sport mutation that turned a common orange into a red pigmented blood orange, or a few other possibilities such as chance seedlings. Pigmented oranges are common, and nothing to do with pomegranites, but the juice flavor could be claimed to be similar to a mix of both.

I'd be curious to know if distant citrus relatives work in grafts like Curry leaf tree and Boxwood.