Citrangequat 'Thomasville' – kumquat × citrange

A historic classic of American breeding, the 'Thomasville' citrangequat combines kumquat, orange and Poncirus. Introduced to France as early as 1923 at the Vilmorin arboretum near Paris, it fruited there. Of the three named citrangequats, it is the most widely grown, for the size and quality of its fruit.

• Parentage: 'Nagami' kumquat × 'Willits' citrange
• Breeder: Walter T. Swingle, United States Department of Agriculture; crossed in 1909, named in 1923
• Hardiness: down to −15 °C
• Fruit: oval, 5 × 3 cm, green then yellow-orange, juicy
• Ripening: November to April; the fruit sweetens as it stays on the tree
• Habit: upright and very vigorous, about 3 m tall and 1.5 m wide; white flowers from pink buds in April–May

Three flavours in one season

In December, picked green, it replaces lemon to accompany your winter dishes. Around March, it turns yellow and takes on a grapefruit flavour. In April, orange and fully ripe, it becomes one of the best kumquats.

In the garden

Full sun, well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Its vigour allows it to be trained as a small tree; plant it away from paths, as it is thorny.

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.