Author Topic: Honikan mandarin  (Read 2447 times)

Radoslav

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Honikan mandarin
« on: October 29, 2019, 01:51:58 PM »
In former Yugoslavia nurseries they sold mandarin called Honikan.
Since that time it is in collections.
Adavo nursery in CR also sells it.
http://www.rakytnik.com/index.php/galerie/citrusy/mandarinky/citrus-reticulata-blanco/honikan
According to yugoslavian sources in 1934 japan consul sent 372 trees of unshiu, honikan and natsu mikan as gift to Yugoslavian kingdom.

But I cannot find citrus called honikan in Japan. I would like to find out what is this cultivar about.

Millet

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2019, 03:10:59 PM »
On the Adavo's web page, clicking on the translate tab the word zobrazeni translates to the English word views.  Are all the pictures the same fruit, but just sowing different views? As far as the cultivar Honikan I have never heard of this variety. 

Samodelkin

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2019, 05:39:03 PM »
Photo of the fruit Honikan
zobrazeni = image

citrange

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2019, 05:58:25 PM »
Could it possibly be the Japanese variety Aomikan?
It's only a guess, but I can easily imagine Aomikan being hand-written and then incorrectly read or copied as Honikan.
The variety is normally picked  in Japan while still green, but eventually turns orange.

sunny

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2019, 09:48:35 AM »

Radoslav

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2019, 02:26:19 PM »
Could it possibly be the Japanese variety Aomikan?
It's only a guess, but I can easily imagine Aomikan being hand-written and then incorrectly read or copied as Honikan.
The variety is normally picked  in Japan while still green, but eventually turns orange.

My idea is too, that it is most likely a misspelled name.
Btw.: Aomikan is  cultivar, or it is just name for unripe mandarin?

Jibro

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2019, 04:42:03 PM »


My idea is too, that it is most likely a misspelled name.
Btw.: Aomikan is  cultivar, or it is just name for unripe mandarin?
Ao mikan 青みかん is name for unripe green mandarin - https://kyotofoodie.com/japanese-fruit-aomikan/
Quote
Ao, literally means blue, but in the case of aomikan it means green. Japanese often don’t differentiate between blue and green clearly.
Mikan only stay ‘ao’, green naturally for a short time, so this is the time to enjoy them!



Millet

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #7 on: October 30, 2019, 05:06:12 PM »
Interesting: the fruit is called  Aomikan when the fruit is immature and still green, and Mikan when the fruit turns yellow.

CanadaGrower

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2019, 04:48:10 PM »
I believe I have the answer. I found the name odd as it did not sound Japanese. I have searched for this in Japanese under Honmikan and this is what I got.

https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9C%AC%E8%9C%9C%E6%9F%91-1775087

If you look at the taxonomic name you will see that it is in fact a Kishu mandarin.

CanadaGrower

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2019, 05:18:03 PM »
AHA! I have proof this was indeed the case.

After about 30 mins of scouring the web I found this:

https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E5%B1%B1%E5%8B%98%E5%A4%AA%E9%83%8E_(15%E4%BB%A3)

For those of you who cannot read Japanese, a man named Ueyama Kantaro had brought some kishu mandarins into Yugoslavia kishu being otherwise being known as honmikan.

Edit: Ueyama Kantaro was appointed Honorary Vice Consul for the Kingdom Of Yugoslavia in 1929.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2019, 05:25:28 PM by CanadaGrower »

Millet

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2019, 09:12:19 PM »
Good find.  You solved the mystery.

Radoslav

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #11 on: December 28, 2020, 02:07:09 PM »
Great work CanadaGrower!

It looks like family Ueyama has great tradition as Honorary Consul for Serbian Kingdom and now Serbia.
http://www.serbianembassy.jp/ENGLISH/HonoraryConsulateGeneral.html
According to croatian sources, in 1933, ship from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia transported the Banat wheat  to Japan.
After the ship was unloaded, and the Japanese tasted the bread made from that wheat,  honorary consul in Japan Ujeyama sent
as gift  372 citrus trees (Unshiu, Honikan and Natsu Mikan) on this boat back to Yugoslavia.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #12 on: December 28, 2020, 08:51:24 PM »
I suspected these might be Kishu mandarins, from looking at the picture.
Are they small in size and very easy, almost effortless, to peel, when fully ripe?


I also found this on another Ukrainian forum:
"Adavo has also Honikan, this is most likely Kishumikan too, because it is misspelled variety Hon Mikan form Japan, it was sent to Yugoslavia before WW2, Hon Mikan = another name for Kishumikan."

http://citrusforum.org.ua/viewtopic.php?t=1186


SoCal2warm

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Re: Honikan mandarin
« Reply #13 on: December 28, 2020, 09:07:23 PM »
According to yugoslavian sources in 1934 japan consul sent 372 trees of unshiu, honikan and natsu mikan as gift to Yugoslavian kingdom.
This might be off-topic, but I have tasted fruit from a tree that was labled "Natsu daidai". From research I did, I believe this might be the same thing as Natsumikan.
The fruits are big in size. The fruits are like a mix between orange, grapefruit, and sour orange, and have just a little bit more bitterness than a grapefruit. I was able to enjoy eating it, but I'm not sure if everyone would. Certainly something different, a delicacy.  The flavor and aroma were reminiscent of Jamaican Ugli fruit (another type of grapefruit). It would probably make great marmalade too.
It's also worth saying that, unlike with a normal grapefruit, the white pith is sweet and not bitter. They make candied rind out of this fruit in Japan.
The fruit contains a fairly high number of seeds.

The original story in Japan is that this Natsumikan variety originated when a woman on the East side of Japan found a fruit washed up on the sea shore, and grew the seeds.