Ponkan Mandarin Budwood

Citrus reticulata.

Ponkan is probably the most widely-grown mandarin in the world, being heavily-grown in China, India, and Brazil.It is a vigorous grower and has an upright bearing. At maturity it is a medium-sized tree. Ponkan fruits are usually oblate in shape, with a loosely-adherent thick rind.

Fruit large (for a mandarin), globose to moderately oblate; base commonly with strong furrowed but relatively short neck or low collar; apex usually deeply depressed and with radiating furrows; sometimes with naval.  Rind medium-thick, fairly loosely adherent; surface relatively smooth but pebbled, with prominent, sunken oil glands; orange-colored at maturity.  Segments about 10, easily separable; axis large and hollow.  Flesh color orange; tender and melting, juicy; flavor mild and pleasant, and aromatic.  Seeds few, small, plump, and polyembryonic; cotyledons light green.  Early midseason in maturity.  Loses quality and rind puffs if not picked when ripe.

Tree commonly vigorous and distinctive in appearance because of pronounced upright growth habit.  Productive but with strong alternate-bearing tendency.  Reported to be less cold-resistant than most mandarins.

This is the famous and highly reputed ponkan of South China and Formosa, the Batangas mandarin of the Philippines, and the Nagpur suntara or santra (various other spellings) of India.  Other names that occur in literature include Swatow orange and Chinese Honey orange.

Rootstocks of accession:  Carrizo citrange, C-35 citrange.

Season of ripeness at Riverside, California:  November to January.

Prepared by the Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection at The University of California Riverside.