Nova Mandarin
Other names: 426-9-22, Clemenvilla, di Villalonga
Genetic Ancestry
- 50% Mandarin
- 25% Grapefruit
- 25% Sweet Orange
Nova is reported as a Clementine mandarin × Orlando tangelo hybrid. UCR reproduces an account that Gardner and Bellows made the cross at USDA Orlando in 1942 and that the cultivar was described and released in 1964; the account does not give cross direction or identify the Clementine accession.[1]
Citrus ID lists Clemenvilla, di Villalonga, and 426-9-22 as Nova synonyms, citing Cottin (2002).[2]
The UCR collection describes Nova fruit as subglobose, with thin pebbled reddish-orange rind and dark-orange, juicy, fine-textured flesh.[1]
In a 2002–2007 trial at Dörtyol, Turkey, mean Nova fruit weights ranged from 135.25 to 146.02 g across three rootstocks. A separate two-year study in Spain associated splitting with an open stylar end and larger navel.[3][4]