HS171
The Minneola tangelo (Figure 1) is a Duncan grapefruit x Dancy tangerine hybrid released in 1931 by the United States Department of Agriculture Horticultural Research Station in Orlando. This tangelo (like other tangelo cultivars) is therefore 1/2 tangerine and 1/2 grapefruit. The fruit is quite handsome and a genuine pleasure to eat. the gift fruit trade, but the proper name remains Minneola. The fruit is usually fairly large, typically 3–3½ inches in diameter. The peel color is quite good and at peak maturity achieves a bright reddish-orange color. The peel is relatively thin, smooth, and tends to adhere to the internal fruit surface. Seed numbers are few, but variable, and range from 0 up to perhaps as many as 15 seeds per fruit. Fruit produced on trees in solid plantings of Minneola are likely to be seedless (or nearly so), while trees in mixed plantings will typically have 7–12 seeds due to the influence of cross-pollination. Minneola is not strongly self-fruitful and yields will be greater when interplanted with suitable pollenizing cultivars such as Temple, Sunburst, or possibly Fallglo.
1. This document is HS171, one of a series of the Horticultural Sciences Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date September 2003. Revised April 2018, March 2021, and February 2024. Visit the EDIS website at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu for the currently supported version of this publication.
2. Larry K. Jackson (deceased), professor emeritus and Extension horticulturist; and Stephen H. Futch, Extension agent IV, emeritus; Citrus Research and Education Center, UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville, FL 32611.