Sacaton Citrumelo

UCR describes Sacaton citrumelo as a grapefruit–trifoliate hybrid with uncertain origin. It records inactive PI 150921 as entered in 1945 from seed collected at Winterhaven Experiment Station, Texas, and reports a Texas-origin seedling planted at Rio Farms in 1953. Texas is considered probable, while an Arizona origin remains possible.^⁠[1]

Sacaton-labeled accessions are not uniform in the UCR collection. A 1988 note for CRC 3337 / PI 539823 describes larger, rougher fruit, about half seedless and the rest with 1 to 8 or 10 seeds; UCR identifies PI 539826 from Rio Farms as the seedier accession that best matches the older description. UCR separately identifies CRC 3205 / PI 539816 as Yuma citrange and leaves a possible connection unresolved.^{⁠[1]⁠[15]}

Taste accounts are specific to their samples. Josue's user-supplied 2020 report calls a tasted Sacaton “quite bitter” with strong Poncirus smell/taste. A 2024 video describes moderate bitterness and seediness in one 400 g fruit and reports 9.5 °Brix. A separate 2023 video describes abundant, mild juice and no noticeable trifoliate flavor; the source does not identify its accession or growing site.^{⁠[10]⁠[8]⁠[9]}

Propagation reports describe Sacaton under specific protocols: a six-week greenhouse study of cuttings from two-year-old seedlings found high survival under selected auxin pretreatments, while a tissue-culture abstract reports rooting and acclimatization under its stated medium. Separately, a Hobe Sound, Florida trial of Marsh grapefruit on Sacaton rootstock described thin canopies, unthrifty appearance, and below-70% survival. None of these rootstock/scion or propagation results measures Sacaton's own fruit or general field performance.^{⁠[11]⁠[12]⁠[13]}

Sacaton has also been used in breeding research. A study reports embryo rescue and SSR identification of hybrid progeny from sour orange × Sacaton crosses. Its abstract does not establish which parent supplied pollen or seed.^⁠[14]