Barkley ichandarin – Citrus junos

Description

Description

Barkley ichandarin (Citrus junos) is a wild Citrus junos from China, then selected as a very promising new rootstock for mandarins grown in Queensland, Australia. The best known ichandarin (= ichang papeda x mandarin) (Citrus junos) variety is yuzu, but Barkley is a separate cross and not a yuzu seedling. It was likely originally found in Jiangbei, Chongqing, based on its original accession name of ‘Jiangbei xiangcheng’ (xiangcheng is the Chinese name for yuzu-type Citrus, and means ‘fragrant orange’). This area of China has a very unique climate – subtropical temperatures and extremely low sunshine hours. It was named Barkley to celebrate the life-long commitment of Patricia Barkley to the Australian citrus industry and to practical scientific collaboration between Australia and China.

As a rootstock, Barkley tolerates heavy soils, freezes, and saline soils. Some trials have been planted on heavy clay soils that are subject to temporary water-logging/flooding and the performance of Barkley has been outstanding, producing trees that establish well and remain healthy and productive. Barkley is tolerant to Citrus tristeza virus and Phytophthora.

Furthermore, Barkley has almost no graft union benching problems (overgrowth of the rootstock, eventually causing tree decline), something that can cause other rootstocks to fail after a few decades.

There are no taste reports for Barkley available (I did ask), however it is without a doubt very sour, and will have a unique flavour similar (but different) to yuzu. Perhaps it could end up being even better than yuzu?

Barkley seeds are highly polyembryonic, so almost all seedlings will be the exact Barkley variety, with few off-types. See our article on Nucellar embryony for further explanation.

Seeds per packet: 20

Germination Instructions

Upon receipt of these Citrus seeds, either

1. Soak them in water for a few days until they swell. After soaking for a few days (with a few water changes), plant the seeds directly into a seed raising mix, and keep warm, and they will sprout after 2-3 weeks
2. Direct sow into seed raising mix, misting regularly for about a week to ensure the seeds are well hydrated. Keep warm, and they will sprout after 2-3 weeks.

These seeds were treated with Thiram fungicide (bright green) before export, so make sure to wash your hands after touching them.