Hybrid Citrus Trees

A cross between mandarin orange and pummelo creates the tangelo.Barry Wong/Digital Vision/Getty Images

Crosses between different types of citrus trees produce hybrids with various characteristics. The size of the trees range from small potted trees that serve well as ornamental plants to large, cultivated crops. These trees often have thorns on the branches, and produce fruits with qualities similar to those of their parents.

Page

Page is a hybrid between Clementine mandarin and Minneola tangelo, which is a grapefruit-tangerine hybrid. According to University of Florida IFAS Extension, its parentage makes page 3/4 tangerine and 1/4 grapefruit. The United States Department of Agriculture in Orlando came up with page in 1942 and released it in 1963. Page trees grow upright, with few thorns on the branches. With heavy crop load, the branches could droop. The trees appear to produce high yields, but the size of the fruits tend to be small, making the cultivar unpopular for commercial cultivation.

Tangelo refers to hybrids of mandarin orange and grapefruit or pummelo. Dr. Walter T. Swingle first created the first tangelos in Florida in 1897. The large trees tolerate cold better than the grapefruit, but worse than the mandarin. The size of the tangelo fruit ranges from the size of a standard sweet orange to the size of a grapefruit. The popular tangelo cultivars include Minneola and Orlando. Both cultivars produce better yields if honeybees are present to pollinate the trees.

Dr. Swingle created limequat, the hybrid of Mexican lime and kumquat, in 1909 and named it in 1913. The evergreen trees have few short thorns and leaves with narrowly-winged petioles. They withstand cold better than the lime, but not as well as the kumquat. The fruit resembles the Mexican lime fruit. Limequat cultivars include Eustis, Lakeland and Tavares. Eustis tree has small spines and white flowers. Lakeland tree has almost no spines and white flowers with pink streaks. Tavares tree has short spines and pink flower buds. People cultivate limequats as dooryard trees and potted ornamental plants.

Tangor, which is a hybrid of the mandarin and the sweet orange, comes in several cultivars, including King, Murcott, Temple and Umatilla. King has a medium tree that grows upright with some thorns. The large leaves have narrowly winged petioles and the fruits have dark orange pulp. Murcott trees have slender branches and bushy leaves. They have high fruit yields and sometimes produce so many fruits that the limbs break. Temple trees have some thorns, are bushy and thrive in warmer climates. Umatilla trees grow slowly, but produce high yields.