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World of CitrusWorld of CitrusNippon Orangequat
Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection at UCR
https://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/crc3360 (opens in a new tab)
The UCR collection record identifies Nippon Orangequat as CRC 3360 / PI 149453 / VI 539, records budwood received from Ted Frolich at UCLA in 1960, and describes reported parentage as Satsuma mandarin × Meiwa kumquat. It preserves conflicting origin and propagation accounts; a possible Washington, D.C. origin and later Florida cuttings chain remain unresolved. The record supports the reported cross and Satsuma subtype, not genetically measured 50/50 ancestry.
Accessed
USDA APHIS Identification Technology Program (IDtools Citrus ID, Edition 2)
https://idtools.org/citrus_id/index.cfm?packageID=1179&entityID=8712 (opens in a new tab)
Edition 2 page displays October 2011; no separate page publication date is shown. Its Origin section quotes Hodgson (1967), reporting a Satsuma mandarin × Meiwa kumquat cross made in Washington, D.C. by Eugene May, described in 1931 and introduced in 1932. The page separately quotes a 2010 Chiefland Budwood Facility record for clone F-77142, received from Adams Citrus Nursery in 1977; that clone account is distinct from UCR CRC 3360. The Description section attributes a broad range of fruit descriptors to compiled references, while Hodgson's quoted description says broadly oval to obovate with a relatively thick, spongy rind, mild flavor and acid pulp. This is a compiled page, not a single controlled sample; its thick-rind account differs from UCR's 1989 thin-rind accession note.
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Todolí Citrus Fundació
https://todolicitrusfundacio.org/en/variedades-citricos/orangequat-nipo-2/ (opens in a new tab)
The page identifies Orangequat Nipó as collection code TCF-026 and displays the formula Citrus unshiu × C. crassifolia. It describes a controlled Satsuma–Meiwa hybridization apparently produced in Washington, D.C. in the early 1930s and described in Florida in 1935. Its fruit description is an oval or obovate fruit with a characteristic basal neck and possible small apical bump, intense orange relatively thick and finely pocked rind, medium spongy albedo, juicy acidic pulp with seven segments, and possible seeds. The page also reports early ripening, fruit holding on the tree, ornamental use, and jam use. It provides no observation date, sample count, measurement protocol, or underlying citation; the morphology is this source's account and its thick-rind description differs from UCR's 1989 thin-rind note.
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clarkinks · Growing Fruit · 2026-07-17
This thread's opening post by clarkinks reports receiving a McKenzie Farms Nippon tree a month or two earlier and that it was blooming after care. Post 8, dated 2026-07-18, says “Here is the nippon today” and attaches six photos with filenames beginning 20260718_; the post provides no textual fruit description. The first post's embedded promotional article is excluded as independent cultivar evidence because its provenance/authorship is not established. Post 10's “huge” comparison with Sinton Citrangequat is subjective and unmeasured; post 11 describes an intended whole-fruit lemonade or possible marmalade use, not a completed test. The title reports Satsuma × Meiwa, but the thread provides no genetic testing or independent identity confirmation. Post-specific locator for the photographs: https://growingfruit.org/t/mckenzie-farms-nippon-orangequat-tree-blooms-in-a-short-time-nippon-satsuma-mandarin-x-meiwa-kumquat/81318/8.
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tedburn · Tropical Fruit Forum · 2022-01-14
https://www.tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=46156.0 (opens in a new tab)
The opening post (#0, 14 January 2022) gives Tedburn's first-person account of one fruit, reported as 6 cm diameter, very juicy, with “mandarinorange flavour”; tree location, cultivar source, ripeness, and tasting method are not stated. Reply #8 is a separate report by brian (19 January 2022) from his own tree, describing bland pulp and rind and seedy fruit too large to eat in one bite. The thread explicitly raises identity uncertainty: Brian says Tedburn's pictured fruit looked more like satsuma, and Tedburn later questions whether the plant matches Orangequat descriptions. Keep these as distinct reports and do not resolve the disagreement as a cultivar-wide trait. Cold hardiness discussion is hearsay or unverified, not a tolerance measurement.
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Citrus Growers Forum (archived) · 2008-11-22
http://citrusgrowersstatic.chez.com/web/viewtopicc923.php (opens in a new tab)
This archived thread contains an unverified volunteer seedling that its grower had not previously identified as Nippon; that seedling's shape, taste, dimensions, and seed count are not evidence for Nippon. A separate reply by Ned / Citrus Guru on 22 November 2008 at 10:19 pm describes a Nippon fruit he had at home as juicy, tender-skinned, pear-or-round in shape, with variable seeds, and comments on its color and tart-sweet balance. The fruit's tree source, location, harvest date, and sample method are not supplied. A later reply says the volunteer seedling could be another hybrid. This citation preserves Ned's separate informal account and does not treat the volunteer as a confirmed Nippon.
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serge94501 · Houzz Forum
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1847944/name-your-winner-and-loser (opens in a new tab)
The original poster's Nippon Orangequat entry calls it a “Loser,” reporting lots of fruit, little value as a lime substitute, unremarkable peel/zest, unsatisfactory juice, and ornamental use. This is a subjective garden and culinary appraisal without an accession, sample date, ripeness, measurements, or test method. A separate reply by uncle molewacker describes Nippon as productive, suitable for a hedge, and useful for cocktails, also without sample or method details. Other generic orangequat comments and references to Indio are not assigned to Nippon. The page displays relative ages rather than a verified publication date, so no exact date is recorded.
Accessed
https://themulberries.org/cold-hardy-citrus-taste-tests/ (opens in a new tab)
The current page displays a Nippon Orangequat scorecard that visually matches the preserved original image and the Nippon sheet shown in the matched tasting video at about 32:39. The card reports 90 g fruit, pH 2.8, 9 °Bx, sweetness 4.5 (“Low sweetness”), sourness score 2 (“Very sour”), and bitterness score 10 (“None”). For catalog values, preserve the printed sweetness 4.5 and map sourness to 8 and bitterness to 0 under the owner's scale preference; categories remain null. The matched video and card represent one tasting, not independent samples. The card image and its printed measurements are source-reported; no instrument display was independently verified.
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The Mulberries (YouTube) · 2025-11-20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32ATDliiRF8 (opens in a new tab)
Summary from transcript: The presenter retests Nippon, describing kumquat/orange aroma, a moderately seedy and difficult-to-peel fruit, abundant juice, and culinary uses. A spoken fruit-mass description rounds the current fruit (about 89 g) to 90 g. The presenter gives an early sweetness estimate around 2, which differs from the later website card's 4.5; the matched video/card are one tasting and the current card is preferred under the owner's instruction. The presenter reports pH 2.8 from an earlier test and estimates about 9 °Bx, but no instrument display is visually verified. Spoken sourness and bitterness follow a source scale opposite to the catalog scale.
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Grow Plants (YouTube) · 2019-05-19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOTr0v-xo9E (opens in a new tab)
Summary from transcript: This broad growing explainer describes Nippon as sour with a little bitterness but acceptable taste, recommends grafted trees, and cautions that seed-grown plants may not reproduce the same result. The English auto-generated captions are substantially corrupted; the taste comment is not tied to an identified fruit sample, and no numerical taste value, hardiness threshold, or verified parentage is established.
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Sweet Home Alabama Homestead (YouTube) · 2025-01-14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCGgENS5uP0 (opens in a new tab)
Summary from transcript: The presenter shows two Nippon fruits and two calamondins and tastes one Nippon fruit. The presenter says the plants were grown indoors in pots by the presenter's sister, describes kumquat-like aroma and flesh with a possible Satsuma note, calls the peel sour but edible, and suggests marmalade. These are unscored comments about one sample; the video’s zone estimate is not a measured hardiness result. The spoken parentage is tentative, not a verified pedigree.
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Weird Explorer (YouTube) · 2021-03-10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcAxn-fGZHk (opens in a new tab)
Summary from transcript: At 5:39–7:24, the narrator tastes half of one Nippon fruit and rates sweetness 5/10 and sourness about 8/10 in the normal direction, describing orange/lemon flavor and a mandarin/lemon note in the pulp. The sample was supplied by the CRFG Monterey Bay chapter at about 0:35; harvest maturity and growing location are not given. The auto-generated caption at 6:18 says “egg” just after the sourness score and is not shape evidence. The spoken parentage statement elsewhere in the video is not a primary pedigree record.
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