Palazzelli mandarin

The tree shows rounded, spreading habit with dense foliage, very vigorous growth, and few thorns which develop exclusively on the more vigorous branches. The leaves are similar to those of its parent clementine: lanceolate with bifid tip and average-length wingless petiole. The flowers are fairly small. The fruit is markedly spherical with roughly wrinkled rind and medium stalk length, and is quite large, with an average weight of 110-120g. The rind is fairly thick and the segments are loosely separated by membrane which is not especially soft or thin. On average each fruit has ten segments with a pronounced convex shape, average sized juice sacs, and juicy flesh with many seeds. The tree is highly productive, with a tendency to alternate fruit bearing, though the fruit of this cultivar is of an excellent size, even in heavy crop years. The ripening period is very late (February to June). This cultivar is a hybrid of the common clementine and the King of Siam mandarin, obtained by the Acireale experimental citrus growing institute in 1952.