THE BUD-SPORT ORIGIN OF A NEW 



PINK-FLESHED GRAPEFRUIT 



IN FLORIDA 



T. Ralph Robinson 

 Crop Physiology and Breeding Investigations, U. S. Dept. of Agri. 



THE occurrence of citrus fruits 

 having pink flesh has been noted 

 from time to time, occasionally 

 under circumstances which have made 

 it impossible to trace the fruit to the 

 parent tree. 



Mr. A. D. Shamel has recently called 

 attention to the bud-sport origin of a 

 pink-fleshed strain of Marsh grapefruit 

 in California. 1 In this connection he 

 refers to the origin of the well-known 

 Foster variety (a pink-fleshed grape- 

 fruit) which originated as a bud sport 

 of the Walters grapefruit in Florida. 

 In response to an inquiry from Mr. 

 Shamel for photographs of Foster 

 fruits, the writer, then in Florida, 

 found that there was no authentic 

 record or photograph of the parent tree 

 of this variety. Steps were immediately 

 taken to locate the parent tree and 

 secure photographs. Fortunately, the 

 limb which bears the pink-fleshed fruit 

 was marked at the time of discovery 

 with a letter "p" cut into the bark, so 

 that the tree was finally and with 

 certainty located. It stands in the 

 Atwood Grove at Manavista, Florida. 

 The main portion of this tree bears 

 Walters grapefruit, one branch only 

 (marked "pink" in the photograph) 

 producing pink-fleshed fruit, but not 

 otherwise differing in its physical re- 

 spects from the Walters. (See Frontis- 

 piece). The variation was first dis- 

 covered by R. B. Foster of Manatee, 

 Florida, during the season of 1906-07. 

 Mr. Foster was at that time foreman 

 of the Atwood Groves. Mr. E. N. Rea- 

 soner of the Royal Palm Nurseries at 

 Oneco, Florida, became interested in 



this unusual fruit and since 1914 has 

 catalogued and distributed the variety 

 which he named the "Foster" after 

 the discoverer. While usually described 

 as a pink-fleshed fruit, careful examina- 

 tion of the cut fruit reveals the fact 

 that the color lies solely in the mem- 

 branes separating the pulp vesicles 

 and in the lining of the rind. The pulp 

 itself is not colored but is so transparent 

 that the color of the "rag" shows 

 through the pulp, making it appear 

 pink. The rind, as mentioned by 

 Mr. Shamel, often shows traces of 

 pink color in uneven areas. Though 

 apparently not otherwise difi"ering from 

 the Walters variety, this bud sport, 

 the Foster, seems to mature earlier 

 than the parent variety and it is now 

 being catalogued and recognized as an 

 early-maturing grapefruit. 



THE PINK MARSH GRAPEFRUIT 



It is rather remarkable that another 

 pink-fleshed grapefruit — the Pink 

 Marsh — should have originated in the 

 same section of Florida, springing, as 

 the Foster did, as a bud sport from a 

 well established variety, the Marsh (or 

 Marsh seedless). Not more than five 

 miles south of the Atwood Grove the 

 pink Marsh was discovered in a grove 

 belonging to W. B. Thompson, adjoin- 

 ing the Royal Palm Nurseries, near 

 Oneco, Florida. Mr. S. A. Collins 

 of Oneco, who first discovered this 

 fruit, gave the writer an account of the 

 finding, substantially as follows: In 

 1913, while looking through the grove 

 to pick some fruit of uniform size and 

 grade to fill a special order, he selected 



1 Shamel,*'A. D. Origin of a grapefruit variety having pink-fleshed fruits. Journal of 

 Heredity, XI, n. 4, p. 157. Apr, 1920. 



195 



