<i>Citrus </i>tree named ‘Noah’

Abstract

A new and distinct cultivar of Citrus Sinensis plant, “Noah”, is disclosed that is characterized by its resistance or tolerance to Citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing.

Claims

1. A new and distinct cultivar of Citrus Sinensis plant named “Noah” as herein illustrated and described.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying colored photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new cultivar of Citrus Sinensis, showing the colors as true as it is reasonably possible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. Colors in the photographs differ slightly from the color values cited in the detailed botanical description, which accurately describes the colors of the new cultivar of Citrus Sinensis.

(2) FIG. 1 shows the new cultivar possessing blotchy mottled leaves, indicating that it is infected with Citrus greening and although it is infected, the new cultivar shows nearly no other signs of infection or decline.

(3) FIG. 2 shows the new cultivar possesses a dense canopy that grows so vigorously that it conceals much of the set fruit.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a significant fruit load of the new cultivar.

(5) FIG. 4 shows where a sport limb of the new cultivar began and how it has dominated the growth coming out of the trunk.

(6) FIG. 5 shows that the fruit of the new cultivar sets in clusters and hangs from unusually long branches.

(7) FIG. 6 shows the leaves of the new cultivar are substantially larger with a distinct waviness on the leaf edges.

(8) FIG. 7 shows under magnification the leaves of the new cultivar contain significantly more stomata on the abaxial leaf surfaces.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

(9) In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 2001 except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used. Tree description: Botanical.—Citrus sinensis. Common name.—Sweet orange. Parentage.—Sport limb from ‘Valencia’ (unpatented) tree. Tree size.—Medium to large for 9-year-old tree. Height.—2.74 m. Tree spread.—4.21 m (in row). 3.96 m (across row). Vigor.—Strongly vigorous. Density.—Very dense outer canopy. Crown.—Compact/Dense. Form.—Oblate, slightly weeping. Growth habit.—Tree as weak apical dominance which causes extensive branching. Typical branch lengths are 30-82 cm. Terminal ends of shoots produce 3-7 new sprouts with equal vigor. When the sprouts elongate and mature, the cumulative weight of the sprouts force the branch to bend downward increasing branch angles, sometimes in excess of 90 degrees. As a result, the growth habit is more out and down rather than vertical, giving the tree a weeping appearance. The extensive branching creates a dome-like structure where the interior of the canopy is heavily shaded and absent of leaves, twigs, and fruit. Twig vestiture.—Glabrous. Twig coloration (2nd year).—Striate. RHS 199B. Thorns.—Absent. Prickles.—Absent. Bark color.—RHS 199A (greyed-brown). Trunk diameter.—15.24 cm, taken 15 cm above graft union. Branch frequency.—High. Branch strength.—Strong. Limb diameter.—7-10 cm. Stem strength.—Strong and flexible, not brittle. Ploidy number.—Diploid. Leaf description: Arrangement.—Alternately. Type.—Simple. Margins.—Crenate. Blades.—Medium conduplicate. Undulated in the plane perpendicular to the lamina oriented along the midrib, with a wave-height of 12 mm. Apex.—Cuspidate. Base.—Rounded. Size (lamina average).—Length: 9.37 cm. Width: 5.78 cm. L/W ratio: 1.62. Thickness.—0.39 mm. Color adaxial.—RHS 134A. Color abaxial.—RHS 144A. Texture.—Smooth, Glabrous (both sides). Petiole vestiture.—Glabrous. Petiole wings.—Brevipetiolate. Cuneate. Width and length of petioie wings.—Length 1.6 cm, width 0.48 cm. Petiole length.—1.62 mm. Petiole wing.—Leaflet Blade Junction: Wing adjoining Blade. Petiole color.—RHS 134A. Flower description: Flower fragrance.—Typical sweet orange. Date of first bloom.—Late February to early March (central Florida). Calyx size.—9 mm. Calyx color.—RHS 137A (green). Petals.—Quantity per flower: 5. Petals color.—White upon abscission. Length and width of the petals.—Length 1.95 cm; width 8 mm. Reproductive organs: Fertility.—Self fertile. Stamen number.—4 per petal. Length of the stamens.—1.3 cm. Anther color.—RHS 3A (yellow). Anther shape.—Globular. Anther length.—Approximately 0.2 cm. Pollen.—RHS 9C (yellow). The relative amount of viable pollen.—Moderate. Style length.—Approximately 0.5 cm. Style color.—RHS 1D (green yellow). Fruit description: Time of maturity.—Mid to late February in central Florida. Time of first picking.—Late February. Time of last picking.—Mid June. Size.—Uniform. Shape.—Spherical to slightly prolate. Apex.—Rounded. Base.—Rounded to weakly truncated. Height (average).—82 mm. Width (average).—78 mm. Fruit skin color.—RHS 23A (yellow orange). Fruit flesh color.—RHS N25B (orange). Mesocarp color.—RHS 18D (yellow orange). Segments (average).—11. Naval.—Present on approximately 60% of fruit. Skin texture.—Medium rough, similar to “Valencia” (unpatented). Radial groove.—None. Seed.—Seedless (0-2 seeds per fruit). Fruit flavor.—Sweet and tart. Juice data.—Has a maturity date similar to a “Valencia” (unpatented), with a longer harvesting window. Similar juice color and slightly higher brix and brix acid ratio than that of Valencia oranges in the same block. Juice test from Feb. 13, 2090: Brix: 10.50. Acid: 0.84. Ratio: 12.5. All juice data is from greening infected trees. Presence or absence of fruit clustering (infructescence).—Present. Position of the broadest part of the fruit (towards the stalk end, at the middle, or towards the distal end).—Middle. The presence or absence of a fruit neck.—Not present. The length and thickness of any fruit neck, or if no fruit neck exists.—Not present. The presence or absence of a depression at the stalk end.—Present. The depth of any such depression.—Shallow. The absence or presence of any constriction at the stalk end.—Absent. How strongly any stalk end constriction is expressed on a relative basis.—N/a. A description of any depression at stalk attachment for necked varieties.—N/a. The presence or absence of a fruit collar.—Absent. The height and diameter of any fruit collar.—N/a. A description of the abscission layer between the floral disc and the fruit.—The floral disc or calyx tightly adheres to the fruit. When calyx is removed there is a cylindrical depression 5 mm wide and 2 mm deep. The general shape of the distal part excluding the nipple.—Rounded to weakly truncated (flat). Bulging of navel, and depression at the distal end (flattened slightly rounded strongly rounded).—Weak bulging. The presence or absence of any depression at the distal end.—Present on pieces without navel. The depth and diameter of any distal end depression.—3.7 mm wide and 0.81 mm deep. The presence or absence of any areola.—Absent. The completeness of any areola.—None. The type of any areola (smooth, grooved, ridged).—None. The diameter of any areola.—None. The diameter of the stylar scar.—1.9 mm. The persistence of the style.—None. The presence of any navel opening.—Variable presence. The diameter of any navel opening.—Variable, 12 mm or less. The relative sizes of fruit oil glands (all more or less the same size, larger ones interspersed by smaller ones).—Larger ones interspersed by smaller ones. The sizes of fruit oil glands and a description as to how conspicuous they are.—Moderate conspicuousness. The presence or absence of pitting and pebbling on fruit oil glands.—Pitting and pebbling present. The density of any pitting on fruit oil glands.—Sparse pitting. The degree of any pebbling on fruit oil glands.—Peddling moderate. The fruit rind thickness and adherence to flesh.—Medium thickness 6 mm. Fruit rind strength and oiliness.—High strength and moderate oil. The conspicuousness of oil glands on the inner surface of the fruit rind.—Not conspicuous. The relative density or the albedo (loose, medium, dense).—Dense. The relative amount of albedo adhering to the flesh excluding strands.—Moderate albedo adheres to the outer segment walls upon peeling. The presence or absence of albedo strands.—Present. The relative amount of any albedo strands.—One or two albedo strands may remain on each segment. A description of the core.—Core is filled with albedo strands. Diameter of the core.—10 mm. The absence or relative presence of rudimentary segments.—Present. The coherence of adjacent fruit segment walls.—Intermediate. The relative strength of fruit segment walls.—Moderate. The length and thickness of juice vesicles.—10 mm length and 2 mm thickness. The relative conspicuousness and coherence of juice vesicles.—Conspicuous with strong coherence.