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Satsuma Mandarin🍊
Citrus unshiu
ウンシュウミカン（ミカン）
The most popular citrus in Japan, also known as Satsuma mandarin. Believed to originate from China, it has been cultivated in Japan since ancient times. Well-balanced in sweetness and acidity, and seedless for easy eating. Major production areas include Shizuoka, Wakayama, Ehime, and Kumamoto. Synonymous with winter in Japan, traditionally enjoyed while sitting at a kotatsu (heated table).
Identification Points
- ✓Leaves are ovate to elliptical with a glossy surface and small winged petioles
- ✓Fruit is oblate-globose, orange, with easily peelable skin
- ✓Nearly seedless (parthenocarpic)
- ✓Small white fragrant flowers bloom in spring
- ✓Evergreen shrub, 1–3 m tall
Habitat
Orchards and garden trees in warm regions; annual average temperature above 15°C recommended
Season
November–January (fruit harvest), May (flowering)
3D Specimen Model
Kyushu University, Shikano Lab (CC0)
View on Sketchfab→Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen
Leaf shape
Round
Flowering season
Winter
Habitat
Cultivated
Venation
Pinnate
Petal fusion
Fused
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Aromatic
Aromatic
Phylogenetic Positionミカン科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Sapindales > Rutaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene (ca. 85–70 million years ago)
Evolution Notes
Rutaceae has origins in the Late Cretaceous. Citrus has a complex history of hybridization, and Satsuma mandarin is believed to have originated from a mutant individual.
View on evolution timeline →Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification