Morphological Description of Three Potential Citrus Rootstocks

Morphological studies showed that tree shape in Bitter sweet orange and Yuma citrange was spheroid with spreading growth habit and wide branch angle. Leaves were simple with dark green color, medium size and brevipetiolate in Sour orange while Yuma citrange had trifoliate leaves with medium and green color. Bitter sweet orange had the highest leaf lamina length (10.4 mm) than other rootstocks. These rootstock leaves had lanceolate shape with sinuate margins. Bitter sweet orange yielded the maximum fruit weight (195.9 g) while Yuma citrange and Sour orange had small and medium sized fruits, respectively. Fruit skin was rough and yellow in all rootstocks but bitter sweet orange and Sour orange showed white albedo with medium-strong adherence. Bitter sweet orange and Sour orange fruit had strong attachment to stalk. Number of segments/fruit was low in Bitter sweet orange as compared to the other rootstocks. Seeds represented clavate shape in Bitter sweet orange and Sour orange. The highest number of seeds was found in Bitter sweet orange (27.9) followed by Sour orange (14.8). Seed of Bitter sweet orange and Sour orange was polyembryonic while monoembryonic in Yuma citrange.