The UCR Citrus Variety Collection (CVC) is one of the most important collections of

citrus ''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 ...

diversity in the world. It is used for

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

plant breeding Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It has been used to improve the quality of nutrition in products for humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce cr ...

, and educational extension activities on the

UC Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. Th ...

campus in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

Holdings

The collection is composed of over 1000 accessions, planted as two trees of each of various types of citrus and citrus relatives. The collection largely comprises accessions within the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Citrus'', the remaining types are included among 28 other related

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

in the

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Der ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

Aurantiodeae. The collection consists of approximately on the UCR campus, at the South Coast Research and Extension Center in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...

, and at the Coachella Valley Agricultural Research Station in Thermal, California. It includes accessions that were first introduced in the early 20th century, as well as varieties brought in over time from various curators, and newer varieties that were more recently developed by breeding or brought in as material through the Citrus Clonal Protection Program (CCPP), a special program that evaluates the trees for the nursery and citrus industries.

History

The CVC was first established with approximately 500 species of citrus planted on by Herbert John Webber, professor of

and director of the early

UC Citrus Experiment Station The University of California Citrus Experiment Station is the founding unit of the University of California, Riverside campus in Riverside, California, United States. The station contributed greatly to the cultivation of the orange and the overall ...

Services

The collection currently serves as a genetic resource for research and breeding. Other research being conducted in the collection ranges from subjects related to

entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as ara ...

nematology Nematology is the scientific discipline concerned with the study of nematodes, or roundworms. Although nematological investigation dates back to the days of Aristotle or even earlier, nematology as an independent discipline has its recognizable ...

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, ...

plant pathology Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, ...

soil science Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to ...

, and

metabolomics Metabolomics is the scientific study of chemical processes involving metabolites, the small molecule substrates, intermediates, and products of cell metabolism. Specifically, metabolomics is the "systematic study of the unique chemical fingerprin ...

. In addition, the USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Citrus and Dates (NCGRCD) uses the collection for the

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

genetic diversity Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, it ranges widely from the number of species to differences within species and can be attributed to the span of survival for a species. It is dis ...

within the family Rutaceae. The collection is one of the most diverse citrus germplasm collections. Aside from its foundations of supporting research, the collection also supports educational tours and extension activities through the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban dist ...

David Karp David Karp (born July 6, 1986) is an American webmaster, entrepreneur, and blogger, best known as the founder and former CEO of the short-form blogging platform Tumblr. Karp began his career, without having received a high school diploma, as ...

photographed the fruit and trees of the CVC, which are placed on the web by Toni Siebert.

Curators

* R. Smith (1909–1911) Superintendent of Whittier and Rubidoux Labs * John Eliot Coit (1911–1912) Superintendent of Whittier and Rubidoux Labs * Herbert John Webber (1912–1936) Director of Citrus Experiment Station * Leon Dexter Batchelor (1936–1946) Director of Citrus Experiment Station * Willard Paul Bitters (1946–1982) Professor of Horticulture * Robert K. Soost (1982–1986) Professor of Genetics * E.M. Nauer (1982–1989) Specialist * M.L. Roose (1986–1995) Professor of Genetics * R.W. Scora (1986–1995) Professor of Botany * K.D. Bowman (1990–1992) Senior Museum Scientist * Tracy L. Kahn (1995–current) Senior Museum ScientistCitrus Genetic Resources in California Analysis and Recommendations for Long-Term Conservation
page 15

Notes

References

Citrus Variety Collection HistoryArticle about rare citrus fruit
like

Yuzu Yuzu (''Citrus junos'', from Japanese or ) is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of East Asian origin. Yuzu has been cultivated mainly in East Asia, though recently also in New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Italy, and France. ...

Sudachi Sudachi (''Citrus sudachi''; Japanese: スダチ or 酢橘) is a small, round, green citrus fruit of Japanese origin that is a specialty of Tokushima Prefecture in Japan. It is a sour citrus, not eaten as fruit, but used as food flavoring in p ...

and

Kabosu Kabosu (カボス or 臭橙; binomial name: ''Citrus sphaerocarpa'') is a citrus fruit of an evergreen broad-leaf tree in the family Rutaceae. It is popular in Japan, where its juice is used to improve the taste of many dishes, especially cook ...

External links

Citrus Variety Collection website

Fruit Maven Website, impression of visit in the collection

Los Angeles Times on the Collection, and tasting of the varieties
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of California, Riverside Citrus Variety Collection Citrus Variety Collection Agricultural research institutes in the United States Agriculture in Riverside County, California Citrus production Nature conservation in the United States Research institutes in California