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Mini Mandarin
A uniquely small and sweet tangerine grown in Southern China

Genus species names are dirived from a system created by Carl Von Linne in 1753 oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/sci-names The Mini Mandarins scientific plant name is C.kinokuni Hort.ex Tanaka.

The Latin name was recorded by a Japanese Botonist who researched in China and named over 180 varieties of Citrus that we know today Chōzaburō Tanaka

The history of Citrus is somewhat shrowded in mystery especially with regard to many of the oriental manadrin species; http://websites.lib.ucr.edu

A very useful and practical overview of the most well known types and how they are classified see the Wikipedia page on Mandarins Mandarin_orange

There is also a useful discussion available from Purdue University www.hort.purdue.edu

The Mini-Mandarin is a very unique species of Mandarin due to it's small size at full maturity.

If you visited the Wiki site mentioned above you might have noted that Mandarins are typically marketed as Tangerine. This is possibly because some of the earliest fruit brought to Western Europe was from the port of Tangier in Morocco There is also an original (non-hybrd) citrus species from the area known as a Tangor http://websites.lib.ucr.edu. These fruits would have arrived around Christmas time and helped people form very fond childhood memories of Tangerines. Receiving a piece of citrus fruit at Christmas would have been an absolute treat. See Tangerine for more info although the page refers to a Ponkan known in the U.S.A. as Chinese Honey Tangerine - this is definitely not the same species as Mini-Mandarin

Certainly it is likely that seeds and small trees were traded on historical sailing routes hence the somewhat clouded history of some varieties. Citrus trees are also commonly cross bred and grafted for commercially advantageous reasons.

In The People's Republic of China[] the fruit is known as the Nanfeng Orange or Honey Orange

There a few other small calibre citrus varieties in China, none quite so small and none quite as authentically full flavoured and sweet.

History
There is a certain amount of folklore and legend attached to the origins of the Mini Mandarin. There is nothing malicious or suspicious about this. It is extremely likely that the species has been in existance naturally and therefore established itself before proper records began. It is also the case that many history books were burned during the so called Anti-Rightist Movement Anti-Rightist Movement during the Leadership of Mao Zedong. Many Acedemics that were educated and had the ability to read and write were employed by Landowning Class that may have been killed. Prior to that there was an extensive Civil War that reported cost the lives of 20 million people, see Taiping Rebellion for more information.

The Mini Mandarin is thought to have been cultivated specically for the Aristocracy who would have been Emperors See Emperor of China Emperors from the same family are typically classified as Dynasties in Chinese history

Mini Mandarin has been reported to be cultivated since the Tang Dynasty Tang Dynasty more than 1300 years ago. Around the 15th century, cultivation of the Mini Mandarin prospered, due to its good taste and economic value. The name was officially written into Government Records of Jianchang in Ming Dynasty Ming Dynasty. According to Japanese experts, some Japanese citrus varieties decended came from Nanfeng tangerine orange about 700 years ago. This would indicate that the variety was selected for its superior taste and eating characteristics and suggests it was known outside of China for over 700 years ago. Some Horticultural fruit tree experts believe that the Mini Mandarin is a authentic tangerine fruit due to its superior quality over other varieties and it's popularity domestically has lead to increased planting in its native geographical area of Nanfeng in Jiangxi Province See the following link for more information Jiangxi.

More recently as China's Econonic reforms coninue unabated and the well publiced migration to urbanised lifestyles continues the popularity of the fruit has reached unprecidented levels. As such planting of the trees has also increased. In 1999, there was reported planting area of 11200 hectares, and total annual output was 120,000 tons. By 2004 this had apparently increased to more than 20000 hectares, and meant a jump in production to 250,000 tons, a new historic high. In 2015, the planting area of 'Mini Mandarin will reach more than 33333 hectares, with a total output of 600000 tons.

Current Distribution
The fruit was first exported to Europe by a Hong Kong based company called Chaoda Eco Veg See Chaoda Eco Veg having been grown on the largest commercial orchard in Nanfeng owned by Chaoda Modern Agriculture chaoda.com.hk

The fruit is offically exported under the Western name Mini Mandarin but is and has been marketed using several different names such as Tiny Tangerine See www.telegraph.co.uk for an example, also as Cherry Orange see Cherry Orange for info, Baby Mandarin, Clementiny see ClemenTINY and obviously as Mini Mandarin

The Mini Mandarin is imported by specialist Citrus companies that typically re-pack the fruit into small packets or Punnet

It is then sold widely across Western Europe, particularly in Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Switzerland as well as The United Kingdom

U.K. retailers that definitely have the fruit for sale are Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose

Large German Supermarkets that typically receive the fruit would be Edeka, and REWE Group