The Jamaican tangelo, also known by proprietary names ugli fruit, uglifruit, and uniq fruit, is a

citrus fruit ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to So ...

that arose on the island of Jamaica through the natural hybridization of a

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 ...

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 * ...

with a

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink. Grapefruit is ...

(or

pomelo The pomelo ( ), ''Citrus maxima'', is the largest citrus fruit from the family Rutaceae and the principal ancestor of the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid, citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefr ...

), and is thus a

tangelo The tangelo ( , ; ''C. reticulata × C. maxima'' or ''× C. paradisi''), ''Citrus × tangelo, is'' a citrus fruit hybrid of a ''Citrus reticulata'' variety, such as mandarin orange or tangerine, and a ''Citrus maxima'' variety, such as a pomel ...

.Grapefruit: a fruit with a bit of a complex
in ''Art Culinaire'' (Winter 2007) The original tree is believed to have been a hybrid formed from the Seville orange, the grapefruit and the tangerine families. As a hybrid species, it is usually represented as ''

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 ...

'' × '' paradisi''.Bastyra, Judy, and Julia Canning. ''A Gourmet's Guide to Fruit.'' Los Angeles: HP Books, 1989. Pg. 52.

Discovery

This tangelo was a natural hybrid, having arisen spontaneously like the grapefruit, near

Brown's Town, Jamaica Brown's Town is one of the principal towns in St. Ann Parish, Jamaica.Brown's Town
In 1991, it ...

, where it is mainly grown today. It was discovered growing wild in or about 1917, then passed through several generations of budwood grafting, selecting for fewer seeds. It was exported to Canada and England by 1934, and to the United States in 1942. 'UGLI' is a

registered trademark The registered trademark symbol, , is a typographic symbol that provides notice that the preceding word or symbol is a trademark or service mark that has been registered with a national trademark office. A trademark is a symbol, word, or word ...

of Cabel Hall Citrus Limited, under which it markets the fruit, the name being a variation of the word "ugly", which refers to the fruit's unsightly appearance, with rough, wrinkled, greenish-yellow rind, wrapped loosely around the orange pulpy citrus inside.

Description

The light-green surface blemishes turn orange when the fruit is at its peak ripeness. The Jamaican tangelo is usually slightly larger than a grapefruit (but this varies) and has fewer seeds. The flesh is very juicy and tends toward the sweet side of the tangerine rather than the bitter side of its grapefruit lineage, with a fragrant rind. The taste is often described as sourer than an orange and less bitter than a grapefruit, however, and is more commonly guessed to be a lemontangerine hybrid. The fruit is seasonal from December to April. It is distributed in Europe and the United States between November and April, and is on occasion available from July to September.

Gallery

File:Ugli fruit sections.jpg, Jamaican tangelo, peeled and sectioned File:Ugli.jpg, Roundish version

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1757759 Citrus hybrids Flora of Jamaica Grapefruit