A mandarin by any other name Page 1 a Mandarin Publication Number 31-111 By Any Other Name (published Dec.2004) Author: Cindy Fake, Horticulture and Small Farms Advisor, Placer and Nevada Counties A mandarin by any other name technically correct. Interestingly, 2. Mediterranean mandarins, would taste as sweet, but what is DNA technology has revealed called “Willowleaf” mandarin it? In Japanese, mandarin is that the common or sweet orange because of its small narrow mikan; in India; it is the suntara. is probably a hybrid of a leaves In French and German, it is pummelo, a large, thick-skinned mandarine; in Italian, mandarino, citrus, and a mandarin. So, even 3. King mandarins, a small Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, your orange is part mandarin! group of mandarins of Indo- and Bulgarian all use mandarina; China, important primarily as but to many Americans, mandarin Where did tangerine come from? parents of commercial is an unfamiliar term. Mandarins were first imported varieties such as Kinnow and from China into the Encore There is a lot of confusion about Mediterranean region through the mandarins and tangerines. Some port of Tangiers, hence the name 4. Common people say that if the skin is tangerine. However, to quote one mandarins, a reddish-orange and it has seeds, citrus expert, Lance Walheim, diverse group it is a tangerine, and that only “The name tangerine has no that includes Satsumas are mandarins. Others botanical standing; rather it numerous think all of them are tangerines. appears to have developed as a hybrids and many of what Part of the confusion is because marketing term for bright colored some would call tangerines; mandarins make up the largest (reddish-orange) varieties of the Clementines, Dancy, and most varied group of citrus. common mandarin, such as Kinnow, and Fairchild Dancy”. THE MANDARIN Satsuma and common mandarins Use of the term tangerine is not are the two commercially According to most consistent, as some pale yellow- important groups. While some of the world’s citrus orange fruit are also called varieties fit easily into these four experts, all of the tangerines. Outside the US, the categories, one of the properties loose skinned, cold- term is rarely used. To put it of mandarins (and other citrus) is hardy citrus are succinctly, a mandarin is a that they mutate spontaneously. mandarins, mandarin and so is a tangerine. Many of the wide range of botanically known Satsuma and Clementine as Citrus reticulata. Properly MANDARIN TYPES varieties are the result of such speaking, they are not mandarin mutations. oranges, but simply mandarins. Most horticulturalists divide However, since many Americans’ mandarins into four groups: HISTORY OF THE MANDARIN only acquaintance with mandarins is from a can labeled 1. Satsuma mandarins Mandarins probably originated in “mandarin oranges”, it may be primarily developed in Japan. China and were taken to India by helpful to call them mandarin These are the most cold traders. Later they spread to oranges, even if it is not hardy mandarins. Japan, where Satsuma COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Placer County WEB SITE: ceplacernevada.ucdavis.edu Nevada County 11477 E Avenue The University of California, in accordance with applicable Federal and State law and University 255 So Auburn policy, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, Auburn, California 95603 medical condition (cancer-related), ancestry, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or status Grass Valley, California 95945 as a Vietnam-era veteran or special disabled veteran. Inquiries regarding the University’s (530) 889-7385 nondiscrimination policies may be directed to the Affirmative Action Director, University of California, (530) 273-4563 Agriculture and Natural Resources, 1111 Franklin, 6th Floor, Oakland, California 94607-5200. (510) FAX (530) 889-7397 987-0096. FAX (530) 273-4769 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION PLACER & NEVADA COUNTIES United States Department of Agriculture, University of California, Placer and Nevada Counties E-Mail: [email protected] cooperating. E-Mail: [email protected] A mandarin by any other name Page 2 mandarins developed about three frequently called tangerines trees for yards, with a wonderful hundred years ago. because of their reddish orange fragrance and beautiful fruit to color. brighten dreary winter days. And Although citrus has been grown the fruit is sure to be enjoyed by in Europe and the Mediterranean The original ‘Clementine’ all! There are many mandarin since Greek and Roman times, mandarin was selected in Oran, varieties produced in the foothills, mandarins arrived in Europe Algeria in the early 20th century with harvest periods ranging from much later than other citrus. by a French missionary, Father November through February. So What traveled to Europe was Clement Rodier. Although some sit down, peel a mandarin, and willowleaf and common sources have described it as an enjoy the citrus taste of the mandarin. Our California accidental hybrid of sour (Seville) foothills! mandarins trace back to the orange and Mediterranean European and Japanese mandarin, it is now thought to be introductions. identical to the Canton mandarin of China. There have been so SATSUMA MANDARINS many selections of the original Clementine that Clementine is Our Satsuma varieties came to now used as a term for a group of us from Japan. Most of the varieties, which include commercial production in the Clemenules, Fina, Marisol, and foothills is ‘Owari’ Satsuma Oroval. mandarins. They are orange- REFERENCES colored 2 to 3 inch fruit, with a Clementine fruit are usually slightly flattened shape. Other seedless, unless there is a Citrus. 1994. F.S. Davies and Satsuma varieties include Okitsu pollenizer nearby. They are a L.G. Albrigo. CAB Wase, Kuno Wase, and Dobashi deeper orange than Satsumas, International. Beni. Satsuma varieties are with a more rounded shape. The Citrus. 1996. Lance Walheim. popular because they are sweet, skin is loose enough to peel Ironwood Press. seedless, and easy to peel and easily, but not as loose as the separate. Satsuma. Citrus: How to Select, Grow and Enjoy. 1980. Richard Satsuma mandarin trees are very Clementine fruit is sweet, juicy, Ray & Lance Walheim. HP cold hardy, but the fruit is and has a wonderful, spicy Books. considerably less so. Trees have aroma. In fact, they are so been known to survive down to aromatic that in West Africa a Citrus Varieties of the World. 16 degrees, but fruit will be traditional adage says that there 1990. James Saunt. Sinclair damaged if temperatures fall are no mandarin thieves, International. below 28ºF for just a few hours. because you can smell them coming! Horticultural Varieties of Citrus. 1967. Robert W. Clementines are not as cold Hodgson. University of hardy as Satsumas, but do well in California Division of warmer locations of the lower Agricultural Sciences. foothills between 400 and 800 feet. The leaves are usually smaller and narrower than CLEMENTINE MANDARINS Satsumas, resembling willowleaf mandarins. The foliage is also Our Clementines, also known as aromatic. “Algerian tangerines” came to California from the Mediterranean Regardless of what you call and via Florida. Clementines are them, mandarins make great UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION PLACER & NEVADA COUNTIES .