Buddha's Hand Citron

Buddha’s Hand is a fingered citron grown for its fragrant rind and sculptural fruit. UCR’s CRC 3768 accession has yellow, fingerlike fruits 6–12 inches long and a solid-albedo interior without juicy pulp or seeds. This collection description is specific to CRC 3768; its parents and the particular Chinese form are unknown.^⁠[1]

The fragrant rind is used for zest, candy and scent. Tasters describe different specimens: GoldenGully found one supermarket fruit lemon-like and neither sweet nor sour, while Brandon Ahmaud described the pith as non-bitter and usable raw or cooked. These reports do not establish a uniform flavor across all Buddha’s Hand forms.^{⁠[1]⁠[5]⁠[6]}

UCR describes a small, open, shrubby tree and says it is very frost-sensitive. At Riverside, the main fruit season is November–January, though some yellow fruit is present year-round. For CRC 3768, UCR lists Yuma Ponderosa lemon and citremon as rootstocks; it records budwood imported from Hawaii via CCPP in 1975. The parents of the accession are unknown.^⁠[1]