Clemtine Oranges – Seeds

Q: I am an 11 year old gardener. I was wondering if clementine oranges have no seeds how do they grow more?

A: Clementines are a hybrid variety of mandarin orange that originated in China. A flower of this orange will not pollinate itself, thus no seed form inside the fruit.Even though Clementines are seedless they can be propagated by budding. Growers use a sharp knife to remove a bud from a superior Clementine tree and insert it under the bark of a young rootstock orange tree. The bud forms a limb that produces tasty Clementines. Other limbs from the rootstock are removed so eventually an entire tree develops from the original single bud.
Clementines are named for Father Clement Rodier, a Catholic priest and botanist who ran an orphanage in Algeria.

Spain and North Africa are centers of clementine production. Tens of thousands of acres of this popular fruit are harvested each year. Clementines like hot, dry summers and warm winters. California has a moderate clementine industry but nothing like that in Spain.

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