COMMON NAMES: Mandarin, Mandarin Orange [yellowish-pale orange], Tangerine [orange-red], Satsuma Orange, Tangor, Florida Orange, King Orange, King Mandarin, King-of-Siam.; German Mandarine; French Mandarine

TRADITIONAL NAMES: ‘Ānani Papa‘ā (RR MG AT MK MT), ‘Anani Papa‘ā (AK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE se.Asia - Malesia - Philippines

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Food (Fruit 4+)

KEY FEATURES: A small tree, with ascending branches, to 5m. LEAVES: green, small, oval with slightly winged leaf-stalks (to 10cm length). The flowers are waxy, white and fragrant, with a crown-like central ring, typical of citrus, of white pollen-stalks (=stamens) tipped with yellow pollen. In the centre of the ring of stamens is the female pollen-catching structure (=the style). The fruit are large, orange mandarins, flattened-ball shaped with loose skin and a dimple in the base (to 7cmØ). (See also: Natural History)

SIMILAR SPECIES: Other species of Citrus, species of Clausella and Fortunella. If fruits are present then confusion should be limited [- Lime fruits are smaller, rounder, with tight skin and ripen to a pale greenish-yellow only; Lemon, Citron and Rough Lemon fruits ripen yellow and are ovoid; Grapefruits are large and ripen yellow with a flush of pale-orange; Pummelo fruits ripen yellow, are round or broad-pear shaped; Orange fruits are larger and rounder; Otaheite oranges are a similar size to Mandarins but are not sweet and lack loose skin; Wampi fruits ripen white or yellow and are smaller; Kumquat fruits ripen yellow and are ovoid]. If fruit is not present then these features may distinguish the Mandarin: Lime trees have longer leaves than Mandarin trees, Lemon tree flowers have a purple tinge at their bases, Rough Lemon tree leaves have a notch in their tips;Citron flowers are flushed with pink; Grapefruit leaves have large wings on the leaf-stalks; Pummelo trees have furry young branches, Orange trees are generally much larger and the young twigs are angled, Otaheite orange trees have drooping and spreading branches, Wampi trees have (compound) leaves made up of 5-7 leaflets, Kumquat trees have very narrow-oval leaves.