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Citrus margarita
Also called Kumquat, Calamondin Orange, Changshou Kumquat, Hong Kong Kumquat, Golden Nutmeg Orange, Golden Bean Kumquat, Meiwa Kumquat
The oval kumquat (Citrus margarita), also called Nagami kumquat, is a small citrus tree grown for its sweet-skinned, sour-fleshed fruit and as an ornamental. It does best in full sun, well-drained soil and warm summers, and it tolerates light frost.
Citrus margarita, the oval kumquat or Nagami kumquat, is a species of kumquat; a type of citrus fruit in the genus Citrus, family Rutaceae. Its epithet, margarita, is Latin for pearly.
It is first described by the Portuguese botanist João de Loureiro in 1790, in his Flora cochinchinensis under the name Citrus margarita. It is described again by the American botanist Walter Tennyson Swingle in 1915, as varieties of Citrus japonica. However, recent phylogenetic analysis suggested that C. margarita is a single 'true' species.
C. margarita is native to southeast China. It is cultivated in Central and South America, Sicily, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Hawaii and Malaysia. It was introduced to Florida in 1885 from Japan, where it became the most commonly cultivated variety of kumquat. It does best in temperatures of 25–30 °C (77–86 °F) in the summer, and is frost-tolerant, withstanding temperatures as low as −8 °C (18 °F). It prefers full sun, however it can tolerate light shade. It does poorly in soils that are water-logged or rich with calcium carbonate, preferring well-drained soils with a pH of 6–6.5.
The fruits of C. margarita can be eaten fresh, pickled, preserved in syrup or made into jam. If macerated in vodka or another clear spirit, they can be made into liqueur. They are often added to hot or iced tea in the Philippines. The tree is often planted as an ornamental tree.
Calamansi · Citrofortunella · Nasnaran Mandarin · Ada Jamir · Key lime · Bitter orange · Bergamot orange · Ichang Lemon or Ichang papeda · Celebes papeda · Clementine · Heen naran · Daidai
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Citrus margarita by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
