George Otto Nordmann discovered the variety now known as ‘Nordmann Seedless’ on a Nagami seedling tree planted in 1965 in DeLand, about 20 miles southwest of Daytona Beach. This was one of many citrus seedlings which he grew in order to obtain virus-free budwood. “He grew seedlings of Nagami, and when they fruited he saw that one of the trees had fruit that was seedless,” said Bill Nordmann in 2003. This original tree subsequently froze, but before its demise, George took budwood from it and budded it onto four Carrizo citranges; Bill planted the trees at the entrance to the Ben. J. Nordmann nursery, at 1600 West Plymouth Avenue in DeLand. The correct name of the variety, as first published by Alfred R. Loeblich III in 1994, is ‘Nordmann Seedless’ (Loeblich, 1994). Ben. J. Nordmann nursery sold a limited number of Nordmann Seedless trees as garden plants. The nursery itself was sold in 1997. As of February 2009, three of the second-generation trees at the old nursery grounds were still alive. (Bill Nordmann, Feb. 2009). ‘Nordman Seedless’ kumquat was first released by the California Clonal Protection Program in June of 1999 (David Gumpf, Jan. 2002). It was never patented, and it was never commercialized in Florida. In recent years budwood has not been available from the Florida Bureau of Citrus Budwood Registration (Michael Kesinger, Jan. 2003). Some years after discovering his namesake kumquat, George Nordmann moved to Washington State and then to Andrews, North Carolina, where he lived from 1973 to 2008, and owned a health food store. He made national news in 1998 when his friend and neighbor, Eric Robert Rudolph, the infamous Atlanta Olympics bomber, sought George Nordmann’s help while Rudolph was a fugitive. Nordmann agreed at first, but reconsidered. Rudolph then broke into Nordmann's home in Andrews and took food as well as his old pickup, leaving $500 at his home as payment. George Nordmann died Dec. 20, 2008, at age 81. (from contemporary news reports, and conversations with Bill Nordmann, Feb. 2009)