Hamlin sweet orange

Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck

CRC 3862
PI 539626

Source

Received as a seedling from USDCS, Indio, Ca, 1961.

Parentage/origins

Parents unknown.

Rootstocks of accession

Carrizo citrange, C-35 citrange

Season of ripeness at Riverside

Unknown at this time.

Notes and observations

Six seedling budlines fruited at Lindcove; all appeared identical. Seed had come from tree of Hamlin at USDCS.

2/8/1988, EMN: Average good size, few seeds, flesh appears somewhat coarse in cross section, good flavor (early).

Description from The Citrus Industry, Volume 1 (1967)

"Fruit medium-small, globose to slightly oblate; sometimes with low radially furrowed collar and faint areolar ring; seeds very few or none. Well-colored at maturity (one of the best in Florida). Rind thin, with smooth, finely pitted surface. Flesh well-colored; tender, juicy, lacking in acid; flavor sweet. One of the earliest to mature.

Tree moderately vigorous, medium-large, productive, and more cold-tolerant than most.

The Hamlin variety originated as a chance seedling in an orchard near Glenwood, Florida, which was planted in 1879, and was named for the owner, A. G. Hamlin, at the time its value was recognized some years later. It came into prominence following the great Florida freeze of 1894-95 as a rival of Parson, the only other variety of similar early maturity, and has gradually replaced it. Currently, it is a major variety in Florida, of considerable importance as an export variety in Brazil, of limited importance in South Africa and elsewhere, and possibly the world's principal variety of very early maturing common sweet orange.

In semitropical climates characterized by high heat and humidity, this variety produces fruit of satisfactory size for marketing fresh, although the eating quality is generally somewhat disappointing. In arid, subtropical climates, fruit size is commonly smaller than desirable though the quality may be satisfactory."