Year lot 76-56 planted 11-20-1975. Seeds obtained from Mr William B Chapman, League City, Texas in Nov 1975. Seeds apparently from a "tree" of Dr JR Brown (also of League City?) also Mr Chapman, who sent seeds, has a "tree". Their trees apparently obtained from Hans Peterson's Nursery (Houston?). Mr Chapman states that Peterson's was propagating hindsii from seed and thinks that Peterson got seed from a wholesale seed supply. 10 seedlings retained all look alike. Mature fruit by Nov 1977. Fruit characteristics appear to agree with Swingle's description of F hindsii var Chintou, aka Golden Bean kumquat. Chromosome number of all seedling definitely 2N = 18. Trees in lathhouse B may be this accession and/or CRC 3790. F hindsii is compared with F hindsii var Chintou in The Citrus Industry, Vol I, pp 333-335. (EM Nauer, ca 1989) CRC 3789 and 3790 compared. 3789 tree is much smaller and less vigorous growing. Leaves slightly smaller and tend to drop more readily, making small orange fruits appear more prominent. Fruits about the size of Severinia buxifolia fruits, larger on 3789 than 3790. Non-edible fruit is mostly seeds - 2 or 3 in each. (EM Nauer, 01/18/1989)
There are currently two accessions of F hindsii maintained at Riverside, PI 539723 and PI 539724. PI 539723 has traditionally been stated to be 2N and associated with the 'Golden bean' kumquat, whereas PI 539724 has been stated to be 4N and associated with the 'Hong Kong wild' kumquat. The two genotypes are compared in Swingle (1943), pp 349-353, and its revision as Swingle and Reece (1967), pp 333-335. Although Swingle (1943) has more information on these genotypes than does Swingle and Reece (1967), the later is more easily accessible (including an online version) and has most of the pertinent information. See also the information in Hodgson (1967), pp 582-583. It does appear that the received wisdom regarding the ploidy levels is probably incorrect. A letter from the late Prof RK Soost to the donor of PI 539723, Mr William Chapman, dated 07/12/1977 states "I finally have definitive chromosome counts on the F hindsi seedlings...from seed you supplied in 1975...confirming the somatic (diploid) count of 2n = 18. A separate letter from Prof Soost to the donor of PI 539724, Dr Bruce Bartholomew, states: "At long last we got some definitive chromosome counts on the Fortunella hindsii seedlings that I obtained from you in January 1978...The chromosome number of both seedlings is clearly 2n=18." Thus, it appears that both F hindsii accessions are diploid (although this should be confirmed again after over 30 years). In this case, apparently both PI 539723 and PI 539724 would correspond to Swingle's F hindsii var Chintou. In contrast to Swingle's statements in the above sources, Prof Soost states in the letter to Mr Chapman: "I suspect that the basic chromosome number...is 2n = 18, just like all other citrus and related genera...[t]he tetraploid would be the derived type...a tetraploid was either collected by chance of the tetraploid may be established as a cultivar in China. It's hard to believe that the tetraploid would be growing as a wild plant (as described by Swingle), in preference to the diploid." (RR Krueger, 12/21/2010)
Information on 'Golden Bean' kumquat from the UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection.