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| Citrumelo | |
|---|---|
| Hybrid parentage | Poncirus trifoliata (Japanese bitter orange) xCitrus × paradisi (grapefruit) |
Citrumelo (×Citroncirus spp.) is also calledSwingle citrumelo trifoliate hybrid, because it iscold hardy and isa hybrid between a'Duncan' grapefruit and atrifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata (L.)Raf.), developed byWalter Tennyson Swingle.
Citrumelo is widely employed as acitrus rootstock,[1] being resistant to the severecitrus tristeza virus and tophytophthora root rot as well as toblight, cold, andcitrus nematode.[2] The trees can survive temperatures into the teens (Fahrenheit);[3] one specimen inNorth Carolina reportedly survived temperatures below zero Fahrenheit.[4]
The fruit are yellow, and up to 4 inches across in size.[4][3] Their taste is described as "like a cross between a lemon and a grapefruit",[3] or "if sprinkled with sugar [then] like an ordinary grapefruit, harvested perhaps a bit too early".[4]
Trifoliate orange, according to Swingle, belongs to a citrus-related genus calledPoncirus, while grapefruit equivocally belongs to the genuscitrus, hence thebotanical name ×citroncirus is a hybrid genus, derived fromcitrus and poncirus.
