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Kishu mikan
The kishu mikan (Citrus kinokuni ex Tanaka), from Japanese Kishū mikan (紀州蜜柑), is a hybrid variety of mikan, or mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata), found in Southern China and also grown in Japan.
The fruit is also known as Baby Mandarin, Tiny Tangerine, Mini Mandarin and Kishu Mandarin. It is sold under the brand name "Cherry Orange" in Europe. It is shaped like a mandarin, between 25 and 50 mm (0.98 and 1.97 in) in diameter. The fruit's orange skin is thin and smooth.
Some varieties of kishu, such as the mukaku kishu, are seedless. The species is used in creating seedless hybrid citrus. The largest variety is the hira kishu.
Under the Tanaka system of citrus taxonomy, the kishu mikan was categorized as a separate species named Citrus kinokuni, while the Swingle system grouped it with other pure and hybrid mandarins as a single species, Citrus reticulata. It may also be called the Kinokuni group. In the 2010s, genetic sequencing allowed resolution of taxonomic debate, placing kishus and a number of other mandarin varieties as mutated clones of one another. All of them are the offspring of a single mildly-hybrid citrus (citrus plants generally hybridize freely). See Kishu mikan#Relatives below.
The fruit is thought to have arisen in Southern China; it is believed to have been grown since the 700s. Its name was recorded in the records of Jianchang during the Ming Dynasty, and its agricultural growth is widespread in Jiangxi province. The variety was introduced to Japan around 1200.
The Kishū Tokugawa family, the Kishu branch of the influential Tokugawa clan, ruled Kishū Domain, and is said to have promoted the farming of mandarins on the hillsides around Arida, which were too steep to be readily terraced for rice production. Kinokuniya Bunzaemon (1669-1734) grew rich transporting the fruit to Edo (modern-day Tokyo). The scientific term "kinokuni [citrus] group" refers to kishu mandarins. Kishu mandarins remained the most popular citrus in Tokyo until the 1800s.
Kishu mikan were introduced to America in the 1800s but were not widely known. A seedless cultivar was developed for commercial production starting in 1983 at the University of California Citrus Research Center but citrus researchers dismissed the kishus as too small to be commercially viable. However, kishus became a favorite for graduate students and staff at UCR and was featured in the UCR Citrus Variety Collection conducted by Ottillia Biehr in 2000. It was there that Jim Churchill and Lisa Brenneis of Churchill Orchard were introduced to the tiny fruit. They thought it was "cute" and went on to be the first to produce kishus commercially in the United States with the planting of an initial block of 50 specially ordered kishu trees in Ojai Valley, California. By the 1990s, the fruit had entered the market, and started to become widely available in the US around 2010.
The fruit became commercially available in Europe in 2006. It is also grown in Australia.
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Kishu mikan
The kishu mikan (Citrus kinokuni ex Tanaka), from Japanese Kishū mikan (紀州蜜柑), is a hybrid variety of mikan, or mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata), found in Southern China and also grown in Japan.
The fruit is also known as Baby Mandarin, Tiny Tangerine, Mini Mandarin and Kishu Mandarin. It is sold under the brand name "Cherry Orange" in Europe. It is shaped like a mandarin, between 25 and 50 mm (0.98 and 1.97 in) in diameter. The fruit's orange skin is thin and smooth.
Some varieties of kishu, such as the mukaku kishu, are seedless. The species is used in creating seedless hybrid citrus. The largest variety is the hira kishu.
Under the Tanaka system of citrus taxonomy, the kishu mikan was categorized as a separate species named Citrus kinokuni, while the Swingle system grouped it with other pure and hybrid mandarins as a single species, Citrus reticulata. It may also be called the Kinokuni group. In the 2010s, genetic sequencing allowed resolution of taxonomic debate, placing kishus and a number of other mandarin varieties as mutated clones of one another. All of them are the offspring of a single mildly-hybrid citrus (citrus plants generally hybridize freely). See Kishu mikan#Relatives below.
The fruit is thought to have arisen in Southern China; it is believed to have been grown since the 700s. Its name was recorded in the records of Jianchang during the Ming Dynasty, and its agricultural growth is widespread in Jiangxi province. The variety was introduced to Japan around 1200.
The Kishū Tokugawa family, the Kishu branch of the influential Tokugawa clan, ruled Kishū Domain, and is said to have promoted the farming of mandarins on the hillsides around Arida, which were too steep to be readily terraced for rice production. Kinokuniya Bunzaemon (1669-1734) grew rich transporting the fruit to Edo (modern-day Tokyo). The scientific term "kinokuni [citrus] group" refers to kishu mandarins. Kishu mandarins remained the most popular citrus in Tokyo until the 1800s.
Kishu mikan were introduced to America in the 1800s but were not widely known. A seedless cultivar was developed for commercial production starting in 1983 at the University of California Citrus Research Center but citrus researchers dismissed the kishus as too small to be commercially viable. However, kishus became a favorite for graduate students and staff at UCR and was featured in the UCR Citrus Variety Collection conducted by Ottillia Biehr in 2000. It was there that Jim Churchill and Lisa Brenneis of Churchill Orchard were introduced to the tiny fruit. They thought it was "cute" and went on to be the first to produce kishus commercially in the United States with the planting of an initial block of 50 specially ordered kishu trees in Ojai Valley, California. By the 1990s, the fruit had entered the market, and started to become widely available in the US around 2010.
The fruit became commercially available in Europe in 2006. It is also grown in Australia.