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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Navels
from Brad Lowry

Oh the WWWeb! I *was* right it is a second fruit emerging within the first fruit (contrary to one caller). I was wrong...or it is unclear whether I was right... that it was a genetically engineered or a natural mutation that was seized upon. I kinda think both... the first was natural mutation from Brazil in 1870, and then later when the process was refined, orange botanists, I think, purposely engineered various of them to produe the best attributes.

I heard a term that applies to my copious knowledge without references for it "psuedo-certainty".

Anyway, here is way more than you ever wanted to know about navel oranges

Cuttings Stem Cuttings A stem cutting relies on dedifferentiation of cells in the stem cortex region (a layer beneath the surface tissues) which respond to the wounding of the plant. A cutting no longer has roots, and must be able to absorb water and nutrients to stay alive while is produces a new root meristem to initiated replacement roots. Some plants are excellent material for cuttings; others never survive. Both woody and herbaceous plants may be used for cutting materials.

One crop plant, the navel orange, is the result of a mutation on one orange tree, and propagation of our navel oranges has been by cuttings.

We also use cuttings in the forestry industry, using branch tips from trees with more desirable qualities. Often, a young treelet (seedling) can be prepared for field transplant faster from a cutting than from seed, and its genetic qualities are known. All propagated individuals are genetically identical to the parent from which the "propagule" is removed. In contrast, seeds, the product of sexual reproduction, are genetically different from their parents.

=== http://cmp1.ucr.edu/exhibitions/helen/History/navel.html === Three citrus trees sit at the corner of one of the busiest intersections in Riverside. One of them is the Parent Navel Orange Tree, which came to Riverside from Brazil in 1870. Riverside in the late 19th century was built upon its flourishing citrus industry. This tree was the start of it all, and is said to be the "parent" of all Washington Navel Orange trees on the West Coast. But the sign there doesn't say which one of the three trees it is.

=== http://arc.imok.ufl.edu/citrus/navel1.html === Old Line & Nucellar Navel Selections

Type and parentage: Sweet Orange Average diameter (inches): 3 - 3 1/2 Seeds per fruit: 0-6 Commercial harvest season: October - January

Selections available in Florida are usually marketed fresh and produce relatively small crops of large fruit. The juice of navel oranges is not desirable for processing due to the bitterness caused by limonin. As there is a tendancy for the variety to mutate, there are many navel strains. Choice of horticulturally well tested selections is therefore important. The fruit peels relatively easily and sectionizes well. Fruit tends to be lower in acid content than most orange varieties. The navel structure seen at the blossom end of the fruit is actually a partially formed secondary fruit. Premature yellowing and rot, a characteristic of its structure, results in premature fruit drop. The two periods of fruit drop, early and late summer, can account for 15-20 percent of the crop some years. 2,4-D sprays may be used to reduce this. Fruit from trees on lemon-type rootstocks tend to dry out prematurely. Rind blemish can occur early in the season from mechanical damage during handling. Navels tend to require more precise management, particularly relating to stress avoidance. Irrigation and nutrition levels should be carefully monitored. Navels are quite susceptable to the Colletotrichum fungus, the cause of postbloom fruit drop (PFD).

=== http://134.39.80.150/Botany/Reproduction.html === Parthenocarpy Many fruits can be produced without seed development. This process, called parthenocarpy, may or may not require pollination. Certain hormones regulate the maturation of the ovary into the fruit portion of the plant. Either mutation, such as with the navel orange, or the use of hormone sprays on flowers, can result in the maturation of the ovary without seeds. Parthenocarpic plants must be propagated asexually. Navel oranges, for example, are propagated by grafting branches that produce navel oranges onto other orange tree stock.

Sincerely, Brad Thornton Lowry "Show me a man with no vices, and I'll show you a man with no virtues." -- Abraham Lincoln.