World of CitrusWillowleaf Mandarin
The UCR collection account, drawing on Chapot (1962c), places the appearance of the Mediterranean/Willowleaf mandarin in Italy in 1810–1818. A Hodgson (1967) account reproduced in Citrus ID gives Chapot’s range as 1810–1815. These are retrospective accounts; the original seedling, exact origin date, and parents remain unknown.
UCR’s historical account says the Mediterranean/Willowleaf mandarin was brought to the United States by the Italian consul at New Orleans and planted on the consulate grounds sometime between 1840 and 1850; it describes it as apparently the first mandarin to reach the country. The account then traces its movement to Florida and probably California. The precise planting date is not given.
Sources: [1]
UCR reports that the Willowleaf accession now maintained as CRC 3843 / PI 539188 / VI 118 was received in 1933 from seed of a nucellar seedling budline produced at the Riverside Citrus Research Center. This is the history of the seed-derived accession, not the origin of the older Mediterranean cultivar.
UCR records CRC 3843 as received in 1933 from seed of a nucellar seedling budline produced at the Citrus Research Center in Riverside. This note describes the accession history and does not assert that the source documents later maintenance.
Sources: [1]