kumquat
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kumquat
kumquat
Kumquat
(genus Fortunella), evergreen fruit trees or shrubs of the family Rutaceae. The leaves are small and dark green. The flowers are white, small, single or in clusters, and perfect. The fruit is up to 2 cm in diameter, round or oval, and yellow-orange in color, with a rind that is smooth, very fragrant, sweet, and edible; the pulp is sweet and acid.
Kumquat is quite frost-resistant (surviving short-term frosts up to 12°C). It grows well in the humid subtropics of the USSR and bears fruit on both acid and slightly alkaline soils. It is native to eastern Asia. There are six species in China, Japan, and on the Malay Archipelago and two species in the USSR (both cultivated)—the Nagami, or oval, kumquat (F. margarita) and the Marumi kumquat (F.japónica). The fruit is used for jams and candied peels. Kumquats are grown as ornamentals and are used in plant breeding for developing frost-resistant forms of citrus fruits. They are propagated by grafting on all species of citrus plants and on Poncirus trifoliata. They are cultivated in the same manner as other citrus crops.
REFERENCES
Ekimov, V. P. Subtropicheskoe plodovodstvo. Moscow, 1955.Zhukovskii, P. M. Kul’turnye rasteniia i ikh sorodichi, 3rd ed. Leningrad, 1971.
A. D. ALEKSANDROV