Vaccaro blood orange (CRC 3242)

Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck

CRC 3242

PI 218019

Photos by David Karp and Toni Siebert, 3/17/2010, CVC. Photo rights.

Source: Received as seed from Plant Introduction greenhouse, Riverside (CRC), 1959.

Parentage/origins: Parents unknown.

Rootstocks of accession: Carrizo citrange, C-35 citrange

Season of ripeness at Riverside: December to January

Notes and observations:

JAB: The tree that this seed came from was destroyed at the plant introduction house because of psorosis. Of 30 seeds: 12 singles, 10 doubles.

EMN, 3/23/1987: Some fruits show moderate rind blush. Virtually no blood color internally- an occasional fruit has a few small flecks, mostly near the rind. This and CRC 3627 appear identical.

EMN, 2/4/1988: This and CRC 3627 still appear identical. It is a mid-season moderately seedy sweet orange with some red rind blush but very few internal flecks of blood color. See blood orange color comparison chart on back of CRC 3152 accession card.

Description from The Citrus Industry Vol. 1 (1967):

"The Italian Vaccaro variety produces an attractive, midseason, few-seeded fruit of good quality.  This variety, which has distinctive tree characteristics, is of limited importance in the Paterno area.
      The fruit is of medium size, subglobose to spherical, shallow-furrowed at the base, and slightly flattened at the apex with a faint areolar ring.  The rind is medium-thin, leathery, and tightly adherent.  It has a smooth, glossy surface and is moderately splashed with pink.  The flesh is red-streaked, moderately juicy, and of agreeable flavor.  Seeds are few and small.  The fruit holds well on the tree.
      The tree is somewhat lacking in vigor and has a distinctive growth habit in that the main branches are horizontal rather than upright and the branchlets are slender, weak, and pendulous."

Availability: Not commercially available in California.

USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network page for Vaccaro blood orange CRC 3242