General Dwarf Citrus Tree Profiles

Most everyone knows the basic dwarf citrus varieties, but many are surprised to learn just how many different forms the dwarf citrus fruit trees are out there. Below we list of most dwarf varieties for sell on-line, from the everyday to the rare and tasty.

For specific information by variety on cold hardiness, heat requirements, suitability for indoor growing, and bloom/fruit seasons, be sure to visit our
Citrus Variety Information Chart

 

Dwarf Orange Trees

• Cara Cara (Pink) Navel Orange - Early-ripening Navel Orange with medium red colored flesh. Fruit has rich sweet flavor. Venezuelan introduction.
  
• Late Lane Navel - Spring/summer ripening seedless Navel Orange with fine, rich flavor. A Washington Navel hybrid developed in Australia. A new choice for oranges to peel and eat or juice in the summer.
  
• Robertson Navel - Best selling winter-ripening variety. Early and heavy bearing. Cultivar of Washington Navel.
  
• Shamouti (Jaffa/Palestine) - Fabled orange from Middle East. Very few seeds. Spring to summer ripening. Good Flavor.
  
• Trovita - Spring ripening. Good in many locations from coastal areas to desert. Few seeds, thin skinned fruit, heavy producer, and excellent flavor.
  
• Valencia - Summer-ripening juice or eating orange. Fifteen months to ripen. Grow your own orange juice.
  
• Washington Navel - California's famous winter-ripening variety. Fruit ripens in ten months.

• Moro (Blood) - Deep red coloration, almost purple-red, even in California coastal areas. Very productive, early maturity, distinctive aroma, exotic berry-like flavor.

• Sanquinella (Blood) - A deep red juice and rind. Tart, spicy flavor. Stores well on tree.
• Chinotto Sour (Myrtle-Leaf) - Chinotto makes a small but highly decorative ornamental shrub. It is slow growing, with petite closely spaced leaves. It is great for bonsai or container growing. The small sour orange fruit grows in clusters.
  
• Seville Sour - Essential for authentic English marmalade. Used fresh or dried in Middle Eastern cooking.
  
• Bergamot - Another sour orange, this one is prized for its pungent rind which is used to add flavor to some black teas.

Dwarf Mandarins and Tangerines

• Dancy Tangerine - The best-known Mandarin type. Standard tangerine on fruit stands at Christmas time.
  
• Owari Satsuma - Hardiest of all mandarins. Ripens in November, December. Seedless, peels easily.
  
• Clementine (Algerian) - From North Africa. Ripens about a month after Satsuma, good flavor.
  
   
• Murcott (Honey) - Flesh orange colored. Tender, very juicy, rich tangerine flavor. Spring ripening. 
• Minneola Tangelo - Deep reddish-orange colored fruit in winter. Leave fruit on tree for rich tangerine-like flavor in late spring through summer.

Dwarf Lemon Trees
 

• Eureka - Produces large crops of lemons annually. Bears all year. Standard market variety. Easy to espalier.
  

• Lisbon - Fruit quite similar to Eureka. Thornier, dense foliage. Ample year-round crop. Good inland. More resistant to cold than Eureka.

• Improved Meyer Lemon - The gourmet lemon. "Improved" refers to the California state tested, virus-free clone. Very juicy; not as tart as Eureka. Prolific bearer nearly year-round; heaviest in winter. Mature fruit takes on a golden hue.
  
• Ponderosa - A citron-lemon hybrid, this ponderous choice is a novelty. Fragrant blooms produce gigantic lemons with many seeds. Tree tends to be rangy and open; needs pruning to control shape.
  
• Variegated Pink Lemon - Distinctive green and yellow variegated foliage. Lemons have pink flesh, clear juice, and acidic lemon flavor. Fuchsia colored new growth and flower buds. Excellent landscape tree prized more for interesting variegated foliage than for fruit quality and quantity.

Dwarf Lime Trees
 

• Bearss Seedless (Tahiti/Persian) - True lime. Fruit larger than Mexican lime. Good in cool areas. Year round.
  
• Mexican (Key/Thorn less) - Small, sometime seedy fruit with genuine tropical flavor year-round. Frost sensitive.
  
• Kaffir (Kieffer/Thai/Wild) - Leaves, zest, and juice are used in Thai, Cambodian, and Indonesian cooking. Bumpy fruit.
  
• Palestine Sweet Lime - Round, medium-sized juicy yellow fruit. Has less sugar and acid than the Bearss Lime. Similar to sweet limes from Mexico, which also originated from the Mediterranean. With its mild flavor and few seeds, it makes a refreshing, cooling drink.
  
• Rangpur - Not a true lime (a sour-acid Mandarin). Dwarf if grown on Four Winds True Dwarf rootstock. Does not have lime flavor. Orange colored fruit at Christmas; hangs on tree all year.

Dwarf Grapefruit Trees
 

• Oro Blanco - Produces sweet fruit even in areas of low summer heat. Huge, intensely fragrant flowers. Elegant, nearly white flesh.
  
• Rio Red - Popular red-fleshed fruit recently introduced from Texas. Likes summer heat.

Dwarf Kumquat Trees
 

• Meiwa Kumquat - Sweet round fruit, prized flesh. Candied or in marmalade. Grows best in hotter locations.
  
• Nagami Kumquat - Olive size and shape, bright orange fruit, fruits best in warmer areas. Late spring ripening
  
• Indio Mandarinquat - A kumquat-mandarin hybrid with orange, bell-shaped fruit much larger than a typical kumquat. The sweet peel is eaten along with the tart flesh for a unique flavor combination. Slice in quarters for garnish or eat right from the tree for snacks.
  
• Eustis Limequat - A cross between Mexican (Key) Lime and kumquat. Prolific bearer of small yellow oblong fruit which can be used like limes.

Exotics
 

• Calamondin - (Kalamansi; Philippine lime) Prolific fruit production. Zesty acid juice. Handsome compact habit. Outstanding in containers.
  
• Variegated Calamondin - Fragrant bloom is followed by tart, petite, orange fruit like its Calamondin cousin. Immature fruit is strikingly green and yellow striped. Variegated foliage has a compact habit, suitable for indoors or patio containers.
  
• Fingered Citron Buddha's Hand - Fruit forms finger-like sections resembling a human hand. It is much esteemed for its delicate lemon fragrance in China and Japan. Fruit has virtually no pulp and is not eaten. It is extraordinary as an evergreen ornamental with multiple "hands" hanging from the branches. No frost tolerance.
  
• Etrog Citron (Ethrog) - Fragrant lemon-like fruit with thick peel is used for the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles.