Ujukitsus
The Ujukitsu is a sweet lemon from Japan, often called the 'lemonade fruit'. It was developed by Dr. Tanaka, a well known citrus specialist, in the 1950's. It was brought to the United States via a USDA Research Center called Rio Farms in the Rio Grande Valley. The research center closed down, and after the citrus killing freeze of 1983 John Panzarella, Dr. Stu Nagle, and others went down there to study the varieties that survived and to collect budwood. One Ujukitsu just barely survived, and John Panzarella and others collected some budwood and began propagating it.
I picked one up from George Shackelford of Brazos Citrus Nursery a couple of years ago (on flying dragon rootstock), and planted it in a large pot by my shed, where it has grown very well. The tree itself grows in a weeping form, producing long arching branches, which bear fruits on the ends. The fruits resemble a Bloomsweet grapefruit or a Minneola tangelo in that they are pyriform in shape with a "neck". They really do taste a good bit like lemonade.
This year my tree set around 10 fruit, and I've been waiting so very patiently for them to ripen. It seems like it is taking forever. Every week they've been just a little more yellow, but not one of the fruits looks completely ripe. John Panzarella brought completely ripe Ujukitsus to he Upper Gulf Coast Citrus Show on December 1st, but mine are still half green on December 18th. His trees are older and in Lake Jackson, but I still wouldn't have guessed that the difference in climate between our locations would be so great as to make the fruit ripen almost a month later.
Today I decided that enough was enough, and it was time to pick one of the fruits and taste it. I picked the yellowest fruit and began peeling. It didn't peel particularly easily, and it was very pithy, like a not-quite-ripe citrus. However, it smelled great, and the pale yellow flesh tasted very good, albeit mild. It tasted a little like lemonade, just a little bit watered down, but not as good as the ones Panzarella submitted to the Citrus Show. The membranes of the segments were very tough, almost like those of a pummelo, and I found it easier to just peel them off to get to the flesh instead of trying to bite through them. The fruit contained 21 seeds, which reportedly don't some true. I'll be planting some just to see what I might get. You never know.
I've tasted Ujukitsus before, so I know that my fruit is not yet living up to the its full potential. I'll be transferring my tree from the pot to the ground this spring, and hopefully with age I will get Ujukitsus of better quality, and in larger quantity. I'll keep tasting them periodically until they either fully ripen, or until I run out of fruit.
I picked one up from George Shackelford of Brazos Citrus Nursery a couple of years ago (on flying dragon rootstock), and planted it in a large pot by my shed, where it has grown very well. The tree itself grows in a weeping form, producing long arching branches, which bear fruits on the ends. The fruits resemble a Bloomsweet grapefruit or a Minneola tangelo in that they are pyriform in shape with a "neck". They really do taste a good bit like lemonade.
This year my tree set around 10 fruit, and I've been waiting so very patiently for them to ripen. It seems like it is taking forever. Every week they've been just a little more yellow, but not one of the fruits looks completely ripe. John Panzarella brought completely ripe Ujukitsus to he Upper Gulf Coast Citrus Show on December 1st, but mine are still half green on December 18th. His trees are older and in Lake Jackson, but I still wouldn't have guessed that the difference in climate between our locations would be so great as to make the fruit ripen almost a month later.
Today I decided that enough was enough, and it was time to pick one of the fruits and taste it. I picked the yellowest fruit and began peeling. It didn't peel particularly easily, and it was very pithy, like a not-quite-ripe citrus. However, it smelled great, and the pale yellow flesh tasted very good, albeit mild. It tasted a little like lemonade, just a little bit watered down, but not as good as the ones Panzarella submitted to the Citrus Show. The membranes of the segments were very tough, almost like those of a pummelo, and I found it easier to just peel them off to get to the flesh instead of trying to bite through them. The fruit contained 21 seeds, which reportedly don't some true. I'll be planting some just to see what I might get. You never know.
I've tasted Ujukitsus before, so I know that my fruit is not yet living up to the its full potential. I'll be transferring my tree from the pot to the ground this spring, and hopefully with age I will get Ujukitsus of better quality, and in larger quantity. I'll keep tasting them periodically until they either fully ripen, or until I run out of fruit.
Hefty baseball sized fruit with prominent neck.
John Panzarella's ujukitsus from the Upper Gulf Coast Citrus Show
Almost fully yellow, with just a little bit of green remaining.
Not exceptionally easy to peel.
Membranes are fairly tough. Taste like mild lemonade.
One fruit had 21 seeds. Maybe one of these will be an interesting new variety.
