Citsuma 'Prague' – +Citroponcirus 'Prague'

The Prague citsuma combines two plants in one. According to the most widely held hypothesis, it is a graft chimera: the tissues of Poncirus and of the satsuma mandarin coexist in layers in the same stem, with no genetic mixing. The result is a tree with a twisted habit, as hardy as it is original.

• Nature: graft chimera Poncirus + satsuma
• Origin: Eastern Europe, named after Prague
• Hardiness: −13 to −15 °C; amateur growers report it came through −16 and −17 °C undamaged
• Fruit: mandarin-sized, juicy, a few seeds, satsuma flavour
• Ripening: November to December
• Habit: twisted, slow-growing

A plant with two faces

Sometimes a branch reverts entirely to Poncirus or entirely to satsuma: simply remove those shoots when pruning.

In the garden

Give it the best south-facing wall in the garden: being slow-growing, it copes poorly with competition. Protect it during its first two winters.

The plant you receive

You receive a young grafted tree about 40 cm tall above the pot, low-grafted onto a Poncirus trifoliata rootstock from our own production. Planted young, it roots straight into your garden soil and establishes better than a tree kept in a pot for years.

Because it is grafted low, the variety itself forms the trunk: the tree stands on its own without a stake and can regrow from above the graft after a severe frost. All our citrus trees are grown at 1,000 m altitude in the Livradois, never in a heated greenhouse, with organic fertiliser only.

Grafted trees are shipped from June; the rest of the year, you can pre-order them.