Almost everyone is familiar with tangerine, a representative of the numerous citrus family. The homeland of this bright orange fruit is, according to some reports, China, and according to others - India.
About the tangerine tree
Citrus fruits belong to the rue family and are divided into 7 subfamilies. Mandarin - from the subfamily of orange. The vegetation of most citrus fruits begins at the time usual for central Russia - in late April or early May. On tangerines, a friendly and powerful growth of shoots with young foliage begins. Old, dark foliage on branches that have grown earlier is preserved, as with all evergreen trees. In mandarins, the leaf life is 2 years, so the growth of new leaves and branches is accompanied by a massive fall of two-year leaves. Leaf fall in tangerine groves stretches from spring to mid-summer, gradually fading away.
Young shoots become stronger, and the leaves darken on them, the tangerine begins to bloom. This happens at the end of May and the first half of June. The flower petals are white-pink and very fleshy, after the tangerines have faded, all the soil under the trees is covered with them. After flowering is over, the second wave of shoot growth begins. They grow less than in spring, and they are formed mainly in the crown.
It takes several months to ripen the set fruit. Sometimes a lot of ovaries are formed, and already in June-July, half of them fall off. To regulate fruiting, even during the flowering period, they try to break off excess ovaries, which only deplete the tree. This is a very laborious process, but it affects the quality of the crop in the best way.
Tangerines ripen in autumn. The fruits are edible already in October, but at this time they are still very sour. Full ripening occurs from mid-November to late December for some varieties. After harvesting, tangerine trees continue their vegetation without shedding their leaves. During the winter months, tangerine groves have a short period of dormancy.
New harvest tangerines in shops
All citruses are thermophilic, and mandarin in this regard is the most unpretentious of the family. The ripening times of the fruits of this tree are also shorter than those of oranges, lemons and grapefruits. Mandarin is grown in the republics of Central Asia and the former Soviet Union - in Abkhazia, Georgia, Azerbaijan. Many varieties of Chinese tangerines and many other citrus fruits have never been bred into the middle lane, and those who have not been in China itself do not even know about their existence. For example, very few people know about the existence of red lemons.
For the most part, Turkish tangerines are still sold. These are medium-sized citruses, bright yellow and fragrant; they are sometimes brought in from mid-November. At first they are a little immature and sour in taste, but they may well stay at home for several days and after that they will become sweet. It is impossible to distinguish outwardly Turkish tangerines from Abkhazian ones, which taste sweeter and softer. They are removed from the trees and brought in more mature than the Turkish ones. In the markets, Turkish mandarins are often passed off as Abkhaz ones, but the real opportunity to meet them does not appear until December, when they ripen in their homeland.
The bright orange color of Clementine tangerines, which are brought from Morocco, does not appear on the shelves until the end of December. These tangerines are very fragrant and are always more expensive than Turkish tangerines, and larger in size.
The juiciest, sweetest and largest tangerines appear only by the New Year. They are bright orange and are brought from Spain.
