Ortanique from Guyana


The man in Bourda Market said 'duh is ortanique' - pointing to the tangerine shaped fruit which was kind of hard.  I remember in high school reading about 'ortanique' being a Jamaican fruit and always wondering what it was thinking it was a graft of orange and tangerine.

Apparently though "The origin of this attractive and promising variety is unknown, but Ortanique is reported (Anonymous, 1963) to be an old chance seedling that came to the attention of C. P. Jackson of Chellaston, Mandeville, Jamaica, in 1920.  He is said to have grown 130 seedlings from it, of which about 40 per cent resembled the parent fruits, and to have selected those which he considered best.
      Because of the presence of wild orange and so-called tangerine trees in the vicinity of the original tree and the distinctive features of the fruit, it was considered to be a natural tangor and was given the name Ortanique by H. H. Cousins, a former Director of Agriculture.  The name was a synthesis coined from or(ange), tan(gerine), and (un)ique. "

Man told me that it would be juicy even though the fruit felt harder than a tangerine. Cut it up, and it has juice which tastes like a mix of orange and tangerine

I hope there are more trees in Guyana.

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