Patent Application
20140041086
Citrus deliciosa Ten (ex C.reticulata Blanco).
‘ODEM’
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of a mandarin tree, botanically known as Citrus deliciosa Ten., of the Rutaceae Family, and hereinafter referred to by the variety denomination ‘ODEM’.
The new Citrus deliciosa Ten. variety is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventors, Nir Carmi, Hanna Neuman-Leshem, Ahuva Frydman-Shani, Pinchas Spiegel-Roy, Aliza Vardi, Avraham Ethanati, Yosef Yaniv, Kanonich Yeoshua, and Ahuva Daos, at the Volcani Center, located in Bet Dagan, Israel. The objective of the breeding program was to develop a new easy peeling, mid-season ripening mandarin variety, with high quality flavor.
The new Citrus deliciosa Ten. variety originated from a mutation induced by irradiation, in 1996, of a seedling which resulted from a cross made by the inventors in 1985 at the Volcani Center. The female or seed parent is the Citrus deliciosa Ten. designated ‘ORAH’ (unpatented). The male or pollen parent is the Citrus deliciosa Ten. designated ‘SHANI’ (patented, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,634). The new Citrus deliciosa Ten. ‘ODEM’, after irradiation, was observed and further selected, by the inventors, in a controlled environment in 2005 in the Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center.
Asexual propagation of the new Citrus deliciosa Ten. variety ‘ODEM’ by grafting onto ‘Troyer’ citrange—Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.×Poncirus trifoliata L. (unpatented) was first performed in April 1996 at the Volcani Center, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new variety are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual propagation. The new variety propagates true-to-type.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be characteristics of ‘ODEM’, which in combination, distinguish this mandarin plant as a new, unique and distinct variety:
1. Easy-peeling;
2. Mid-season ripening;
3. High quality flavor;
4. Fruit shape at stalk end flattened-rounded;
5. Medium size fruit; and
6. Dark orange-red skin color.
In comparison to the parental varieties, ‘ORAH’ (unpatented) and ‘SHANI’ (patented, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,634), ‘ODEM’ differs primarily in the traits listed in Table 1.
Of the many commercial varieties known to the present inventors, the most similar in comparison to the new Citrus deliciosa Ten. ‘ODEM’ is Citrus deliciosa Ten. ‘MURCOTT’, in the following characteristics described in Table 2:
The accompanying photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new Citrus deliciosa Ten. variety ‘ODEM’ showing the colors as true as is reasonably possible with colored reproductions of this type. Colors in the photographs may differ slightly from the color values cited in the detailed morphological description, which accurately describe the color of ‘ODEM’.
The new Citrus deliciosa Ten. ‘ODEM’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype of the new variety may vary with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, day length, soil or pruning, without any change in the genotype of the mandarin plant.
The aforementioned photographs, together with the following observations, measurements and values describe plants of ‘ODEM’ as grown in the orchard at the Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, under conditions which closely approximate those generally used in commercial practice. “Pardes” the Hebrew word for citrus orchard is derived from the Persian “pairida{tilde over (e)}za” which means surrounded by a wall. From the same word the word “paradise” was deducted.
The described trees were grafted on ‘Troyer’ citrange—Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.×Poncirus trifoliata L. (unpatented) and planted at a distance of 1.5×5 m in sandy red loam soil at an elevation of about 30 meters above sea level with Irrigation of 100 m3 per hectare during summer, and addition of 1 liter of fertilizers (7:3:7+micro-elements (trace elements)) per 1 m3 of water. Average annual rainfall is about 550 mm, with an average 350 mm of rainfall in winter (December to February). Mean diurnal minimum temperature in January is 7.2° C., and mean diurnal maximum temperature in July is 30.8° C.
Unless otherwise stated, the detailed morphological description includes observations, measurements and values taken from 2009 to 2011 and based on thirteen-year-old ‘ODEM’ trees, grafted in 1996 and grown in the orchard at the Volcani Center. Quantified measurements are expressed as an average or a range of measurements taken from a number of plants of ‘ODEM’. The measurements of any individual plant, or any group of plants, of the new variety may vary from the stated average or range.
Color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart (R.H.S.), (1986 edition), except where general colors of ordinary significance are used. Color values were taken under daylight conditions in full sunlight in the Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, located in Bet Dagan, Israel.
All of the plants of ‘ODEM’, insofar as they have been observed, have been consistent in all the characteristics described below.
