FIRST TO RIPEN OF THE
MANDARIN
SEASON
Kawana-similar to
Silverhill,
but Silverhill is better. Which, flavorwise, is
not
much of a recommendation.
Miho Wase-Starts late
May/early June.Very similar to Miyagawa. Fruit rather small. Easy peel,
nearly seedless, small tree. Precocious fruiter. Slow growing. Better
flavor
than Silverhill.
Miyagawa wase-Starts
late May/early June. Better flavour than Silverhill, seedless, easy
peel.
Fruit rather small. Small tree, slow growing.
Silver Hill-Starts
early
June. Very easy peel, flattened fruit, medium to large; heavy cropping,
mediocre flavor, skin tears when picked. Small tree, very reliable.
MAIN SEASON VARIETIES
Burgess Scarlett-fruits
from September to October. Easy peel, highly flavored, aromatic, small
to medium sized fruit on a vigorous tree.
Clementine-fruits from
about end of June on, holding well on the tree into August. Fruit
usually
small to medium, juicy, with very good flavor. Not entirely easy peel,
can be seedy when near other citrus, subject to verrucosis.
Fairchild-fruits
approx.
July to early November. Easy peel, very good flavour, holds well on the
tree, but small fruit.
Freemont-fruit season,
fruit size, peelability etc pretty much the same as Clementine, except
that it holds well on the tree without drying out later in the season.
Murcott-fruits late
October
to February. Outstanding flavour, difficult to peel, fruit can be
small.
Colour fades a bit and regreens slightly in the warmer part of its
season.
Moderately seedy.
Richards Special- late
spring fruiter, large fruit, puffy, exceptionally easy peel,
distinctive
slightly 'grapefruity' flavor, flesh loses juiciness after November.
Vigorous
tree.
Nova-winter fruiter,
starting in June.
Page-this mandarin has
a quarter American grapefruit in its blood, so it looks a bit orange
like,
altho' the fruit are small. It is particularly juicy and flavorful, and
is fairly easy to peel. Page is productive, and has few seeds.
LAST OF THE SEASON
Encore-Ready from the
end of November through to late February/March. It's ability to hold on
the tree for such an extended period is a real plus. Medium large
fruit,
thin skinned and easy peel, Encore also has rich flavour. The fruit
tend
to lose color ('re-green') over summer, but eating quality if
unaffected.Tends
to biennial bearing. Encore is a large and vigorous tree, and needs
more
fertiliser to produce good fruit as a result.
Fortune-September to
December fruiting. Easy peel, large fruit, good flavor, seedless,
moderate
cropper.
Kara-Ripens late
October
to December.Medium large fruit with very good flavor, but the fruit are
prone to verrucosis, and Kara tends to be a biennial bearer.