The Dancy

tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...

(''

zipper A zipper, zip, fly, or zip fastener, formerly known as a clasp locker, is a commonly used device for binding together two edges of textile, fabric or other flexible material. Used in clothing (e.g. jackets and jeans), luggage and other Bag, ba ...

-skin'' tangerine, ''kid-glove orange'') is one of the oldest and formerly most popular American citrus varieties, but is now rarely sold."Market Watch: The wild and elusive Dancy". David Karp, LA Times. http://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-marketwatch-20110128-story.html The Dancy originated in 1867, as a seedling grown by Colonel Francis L. Dancy. It was called tangerine because its parent, the Moragne tangerine, was believed to come from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It has an intense, medium-sweet flavour, and its juice is more strongly-flavoured than

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

juice. It is known (and sometimes named) for its loose, pliable peel, which is mainly orange

flavedo Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggr ...

, with very little bitter white

mesocarp Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggre ...

(also called albedo or pith). This allows the peel to be eaten fresh and used to flavour dishes like tangerine beef. The Dancy may be a pure mandarin, unlike many commercial citrus cultivars, which are hybrids.

Classification

Chōzaburō Tanaka , often Romanized as Tyôzaburô Tanaka (November 3, 1885 in Osaka – June 28, 1976), was a Japanese botanist and mycologist. He established one of the two major taxonomic classification systems for citrus and related genera currently in use, an ...

classified the Dancy in ''

Citrus tangerina The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...

''; he thought it was similar or identical to the obenimikan of Japan, and close to the Keonla and Ladu mandarins of India. Under the Swingle classification, the Dancy is classed in ''

Citrus reticulata The mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of orange-coloured ...

'', the mandarin group.

Commercial decline

Until the 1970s, most tangerines grown and eaten in the US were Dancys. It is no longer widely commercially grown; it is too delicate to ship well, it is susceptible to ''

Alternaria ''Alternaria'' is a genus of Deuteromycetes fungi. All species are known as major plant pathogens. They are also common allergens in humans, growing indoors and causing hay fever or hypersensitivity reactions that sometimes lead to asthma. They ...

'' fungus, and it bears more heavily in alternate years; the thin skin also transpires in storage, and it was difficult to harvest mechanically. Some hybrids are also more cold-hardy than Dancy. 2012 was the first year since 1874 that no Dancys were sold on the US market. The cultivar is still widely sold by nurseries for backyard planting.

Hybrid descendants

The Dancy is a parent of many hybrid cultivars.

Pomelo hybrids

* Minneola *

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

* Sampson *

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...

Orange hybrids

* Dweet tangor * Mency tangor *

Pixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

* Frua (

backcross Backcrossing is a crossing of a hybrid with one of its parents or an individual genetically similar to its parent, to achieve offspring with a genetic identity closer to that of the parent. It is used in horticulture, animal breeding, and product ...

ed with a Pixie) The Dancy has been thought to be the pollen parent of the Orri and Fortune hybrids, but this is not upheld by genetic tests.

References

{{reflist Citrus Citrus hybrids