I did an interesting leaf taste comparison just now, between the only 4 trees in our collection with a strong Poncirus resemblance: Poncirus+, Conestoga 010, Conestoga 026 and Kinga1.
On the outside, they all look extremely similar, even less distinguishable than true citrus, but the taste tells a different story. The only variety with a stronger resinous taste in its leaves was Conestoga 026. Poncirus+, Conestoga 010 and Kinga1 all had more of a leafy, vegetal taste.
Not exactly yummy but not as extremely unpleasant as Poncirus leaves typically are. What’s funny is when I did our taste tests on the first 3, only Conestoga 026 had a stronger resinous flavor present. Conestoga 010 was reduced, not quite as low as Poncirus+, but the fruit tasted better.
I’ve hesitated to tell people Poncirus+ has better tasting leaves because I haven’t been fully sure, but in comparing these all, there may actually be a difference in the plant as well as the fruit. This can be useful for early testing, and how I found a single hybrid in our thousands of Flying Dragon seedlings.
For those who don’t know, Kinga1 resembles a trifoliate orange, but the fruit have a sweeter taste which is unusual. It is now thought to be a hybrid since it is not as hardy as one would expect, struggling with temperatures below 0°F.
