Gillet's cherry-orange
Citropsis gilletiana

Family: Rutaceae

What it is like

Citropsis gilletiana is an evergreen tree found in west tropical Africa that reaches up to 10 m in height. Its stems have slender spines about 5 cm long. It is resistant to foot rot caused by brown-rot fungus, Phytophthora citrophthora, making it an ideal rootstock for many of the Citrus species.

Citropsis gilletiana is an evergreen Tree growing to 9 m (29ft) by 9 m (29ft) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 9

Where it is found

Not known

West tropical Africa - DR Congo.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Coming Soon

How it is used

Food

Rating: 0

The globose, yellow fruits are about 25mm in diameter, they have an acrid flavour and are not edible.

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating: 3

Other Uses: The plant appears to be immune to a very destructive form of foot rot, supposed to be caused by the brown-rot fungus (Phytophthora citrophthora). This fungus attacks the lower trunks and upper roots of various species of Citrus that are grown in the Congo, including the sour orange, Citrus aurantium, which is usually found to be very resistant to foot rot. It appears that, in the Congo, foot rot is greatly aggravated in severity by the larvae of a longhorn beetle, Monohammus sp., which attacks first the cambium layer and later the wood of the base of the trunk. This species, besides being immune to the attacks of the foot-rot fungus, is not attacked by this beetle. It has been found that the plant makes an excellent rootstock for the cultivated varieties of sweet orange, mandarin, grapefruit, and lemon which were all found to grow more vigorously when grafted on to it when compared to their performance on sour orange rootstocks. Furthermore, citrus trees grafted on the rootstocks of this species were completely immune to the Monohammus beetle and also to foot rot, provided the grafts were made high enough above the ground to prevent infection from the soil.

Rootstock: Plants used as the rootstock for grafting scions onto.

How it is grown

Gillet's cherry-orange, the largest and most vigorous of all the known forms of the genus Citropsis.

Propagating it: Seed

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Medium

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Citropsis gilletiana or GilletÕs cherry-orange

Synonyms

No synonyms are recorded for this name.