Poncirus Flying dragon partially thornless
This is the oldest poncirus in my garden, and the biggest one. It has set a nice amount of fruit this year, and has produced some odd leaves, but what intrigues me more is that many of its twigs are virtually thornless.
It used to be thorny as a younger plant, but now it seems to depend on the year. Some years most of the produced twigs have thorns (but not very long), and some years – like this one – many twigs are essentially thornless. It is more common in the upper part of the plant – perhaps the number and length of thorns decreases as the node count increases.
Other poncirus plants
Poncirus from Karel Mundl (seedling) has its first fruits this year. I’m waiting to check their quality.
Another poncirus. Unlike other poncirus plants that I grow, this one is not fully deciduous. Some of its leaves will hang until stronger frosts destroy them. This doesn’t seem to decrease its overall hardiness though. No fruits yet, but some of the thorns are monstruous this year!
HRS899 O/Q polyploid vs. normal seedling
If someone wants to recognize a polyploid citrus plant without any specialist means, probably the easiest way is to look at its leaves. Thick leaves with serrated margins will suggest polyploidy.
Using these two HRS899O/Q seedlings as an example: the first plant clearly has these characteristics – and is most likely tetraploid. The second one looks diploid.
Multivariety plant
Poncirus hybrid from Schleipfer (which proved hardy after this winter), yuzu N4 and the strain from Cologne (Cologne small leaf) have developed well. At this point, there are no obvious differences in leaf size of those two yuzu varieties, so maybe the “Cologne small leaf” will need another name? Citrandarin Forner-Alcaide 5 seems to grow more slowly – or maybe it has more spring dormancy? This, along with its semi-deciduous tendency, could suggest good frost hardiness – but as far as I know, it’s not very hardy. If slugs don’t eat it, I’ll be eager to further investigate its hardiness the following winter.
