Varieties from USDA are the foundation of the Florida specialty citrus industry

摘要

The Florida citrus industry is poised to grow diverse new cultivars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) breeding program, the University of Florida breeding program, and from importation of bud-wood from new selections worldwide. Knowing the origins of these cultivars helps growers and consumers alike appreciate the effort that has gone into developing distinctive fruit types. Most Florida growers know that Sunburst and Fallglo mandarins are releases from the USDA citrus scion program andwere bred by Jack Hearn. Few people know that the USDA program has provided most of the specialty varieties grown in Florida. Older cultivars such as Robinson, Oceola, Lee, Page and Nova are all USDA scions from the efforts of Philip Reece and Frank Gardner, but are now little grown in Florida. Interestingly, Nova remains fairly important in Spain where it is also known as Clemenvilla, and there are several hundred acres of Page grown in California.