Tangerine - Varieties

Varieties

Honey tangerines (murcotts as it is called in the industry) are the most widely grown tangerine, trailed by the sunburst tangerine, and with lowest amount of acreage, the fallglo.

One of the oldest and formerly most popular varieties is the Dancy tangerine, but it is no longer widely grown. The Dancy was known as the zipper-skin tangerine, and also as the kid-glove orange, for its loose, pliable peel.

The ponkan or Chinese honey tangerine is very popular around Melrose, Florida, where it was introduced from China by a missionary, Rev. Barrington, in 1883. It is easily peeled, much like a Satsuma mandarin, but has more flavor and grows true from the seeds. Growing tangerines from the seeds may take longer, as usually seven or eight years are required before the first fruit, but the trees will be more cold hardy than a similar grafted tree (even if grafted onto the cold hardy trifoliate orange rootstock) and larger. Seedlings must be kept moist until planting. If they dry out they will not germinate. Oranges do not always come true from seeds due to pollination and hybridization problems, but nearly all tangerines can be grown true from seed, contrary to popular notions.