Fortune mandarin

Citrus reticulata Blanco RUTACEAE

CRC 3560
PI 539509
VI 248

Source

Received as budwood from Dr. Joe Furr, USDCS, Indio, Calif., 1966.

Parentage/origins

Clementine mandarin x possibly Orlando tangelo*

Rootstocks of accession

Carrizo citrange, C-35 citrange

Season of ripeness at Riverside

March to May

Notes and observations

3/26/1987, EMN: Somewhat small fruit size with heavy crop. Good rind color. Still too sour to eat at this date.

Description from The Citrus Industry Vol. 1 (1967)

"Fruit medium to medium-large, moderately oblate; rind medium-thin, fairly tightly adherent but peelable; surface texture somewhat pebbled; color reddish-orange. Flesh orange-colored; firm but tender and juicy; flavor rich and sprightly (subacid). Seeds numerous, of medium size, and monoembryonic. Late in maturity and fruit holds well on tree with little loss in quality.

Tree vigorous and spreading; dense canopy protects fruit against sunburn and cold; productive.

This exceptionally late, high quality, attractive new variety originated from a Clementine X Dancy* cross made by J. R. Furr (1964) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the U.S. Date and Citrus Station, Indio, California. Fortune was released in 1964 and is recommended for the desert regions of California and Arizona. Provision for cross-pollination is suggested until the facts in that connection are known."

*It was long believed that the pedigree of Fortune mandarin was Clementine mandarin x Dancy mandarin, however based on the investigation into the parentage of Fortune mandarin as reported in "Investigating the Parentage of ‘Orri’ and ‘Fortune’ Mandarin Hybrids" by Graham H. Barry, Frederick G. Gmitter Jr., Chunxian Chen, Mikeal L. Roose, Claire T. Federici and Gregory T. McCollum, it is now believed that the actual male parent of Fortune is possibly Orlando tangelo and not Dancy mandarin.