New and Promising Citrus Cultivars in California

During the past decade there have been significant changes in the number and types of citrus varieties grown in California for the commercial and specialty fresh fruit industries. This is due in part to the introduction of a number of new citrus varieties into California from other parts of the world and to recent releases of new varieties from the UCR Citrus Breeding Program.  These include the introduction of proprietary varieties such as the anthocyanin-pigmented mandarin ‘Mandared’ or ‘Red Nules’, and the seedless lemon ‘Lemox’ or ‘Yellowstar’, as well as open introductions such as ‘Nordmann Seedless’ kumquat and ‘Cara Cara’ navel orange. This also includes new releases from the UCR Breeding Program such as the anthocyanin-pigmented pummelo hybrid ‘Valentine’, and a number of irradiated, low-seeded selections of traditional mandarin cultivars such as ‘Tango’, ‘Daisy SL’, ‘Fairchild LS’, and ‘Kinnow LS’. Characteristics of each of these varieties will be discussed. These new varieties are building market demand for seedless fruit, easy-to-peel mandarins with brightly colored and fine-textured rind, and citrus varieties with unique characteristics.