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Other Names:  Satsuma Mandarin, Tangerine

Description:

An attractive rounded shrub that bears small to medium, seedless orange fruit in fall, contrasting the deep green glossy foliage; blooms heavily in spring; a nice landscape planting as a hedge or screen; great container plant for the patio

Edible Qualities

Okitsu Mandarin is a large shrub that is commonly grown for its edible qualities. It produces small orange round fruit which are usually ready for picking from mid fall to late winter. The seedlessfruits have a sweet taste.

The fruit are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Cooking
• Juice-Making
• Sauces

Features & Attributes

Okitsu Mandarin features showy clusters of fragrant white star-shaped flowers at the ends of the branches from early to late spring. It has attractive dark green evergreen foliage. The glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter. It features an abundance of magnificent orange berries in mid fall.

This is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects
• Disease

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Okitsu Mandarin is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• Orchard/Edible Landscaping
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Okitsu Mandarin will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This plant is typically grown in a designated edibles garden. It does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Okitsu Mandarin is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.