Dancy Mandarin

Dancy is an old Florida mandarin traditionally traced to a Moragne tangerine seedling in Colonel Dancy’s Orange Mills grove in 1867. The pollen parent is undocumented. A retrospective historical account places industry introduction as early as 1872, documentation in 1877 and commercial propagation around 1890.^⁠[2]⁠[6]

Fruit is flattened or necked, with a reddish-orange thin peel, deep-orange flesh and usually 6–20 seeds. UF/IFAS places maturity in December–January, while UC and UCR report a December–February season.^{⁠[2]⁠[3]⁠[6]}

Dancy is described as a large, vigorous, nearly thornless, alternate-bearing tree. UF/IFAS reports Alternaria susceptibility and distinguishes moderately cold-hardy trees from more cold-sensitive fruit.^⁠[2]

Clipping helps protect the delicate peel at harvest. UC says fruit holds well on the tree, while UCR’s reproduced 1967 account says quality declines and rind puffs if held past maturity; growing conditions and source context may account for the difference.^{⁠[2]⁠[3]⁠[6]}

UF/IFAS and the historical account reproduced by UCR report Dancy as a seedling from Moragne tangerine seed, but these reviewed historical accounts do not establish whether the original tree was a sexual or nucellar seedling. UCR’s CRC 3026 profile also describes a later nucellar selection from Dancy; that accession does not resolve the original tree’s reproductive origin.^⁠[2]⁠[6]