Japanese name: ナツミカン（夏蜜柑） Scientific name:Citrus natsudaidai
[Overview]
An evergreen fruit tree about 3 m tall.
It is one of the late-maturing citrus fruits.
The branches have almost no thorns, and the alternate leaves look simple, but they are degenerated compound leaves, with entire margins and narrow wings.
The flowers are borne in terminal or axillary racemes and are white with 5 petals.
Many stamens are fused up to the middle of the filaments, forming a staminal tube.
The fruit is oblate and weighs about 400 g; it ripens yellow in autumn, but is left on the tree over winter and harvested from spring to summer.
[Uses]
It is characterized by the refreshing sourness of its juice, and the peel is also made into marmalade.
[Cultivation]
It prefers a sunny, well-drained site.
It dislikes cold, so it is best planted on the south side of a building where it is sheltered from the winter north wind.
As a home garden fruit tree, it can be grown outdoors up to central and southern Kanto.
Young trees are easy to transplant, but mature trees are difficult.
Pests and diseases, including scale insects, occur often, so care is needed in every season.
It is a food plant of swallowtail butterflies.
[Notes]
It is known that the seeds of mikan-type citrus show polyembryony depending on the type, and Natsu-mikan is also polyembryonic.
The seed coat peels off easily, so why not take a look?
