The "Tien chieh mandarin** was purchased under that name about ten years 
ago in the nursery department of Grant’s here in Sarasota* That* the 
only time I ever saw it for sale, and so far as I know it 3 not really 
in the trade* I suspect, however, that the citrus experiment station 
at Lake Garfield, Florida — or perhaps the one at Riverside, California — 
might be able to help with the identification. The lost item I had 
hoped to find is a master list of citrus varieties — recorded, I think, 
by the folks at Riverside — on which, as I now recall I once saw a 
•rarietal name that was, at least, pretty close to "Tien chieh." I might 
caution you, however, that "Tien chieh" could be nothing more than an 
attempt to transcribe the Chinese for "sweet citrus," and as that, if it 
is that, it could have a rather wide and loose range of applications. 
The tree does, under our conditions at any rate, have some distinguishing 
characteristics that may eventually help you with the identification: 
1. The tree itself is remarkably small, rounded, and of a weeping habit — 
a bit reminiscent of the China mandarin (= Willowleaf, = Villow tanger- 
ine?, = Citrus deliciosa ?) , but the branches are more pendulous# 
2. Most distinguishing is its characteristic of bearing fruit in rather 
large clusters — tight clusters — and in this it resembles no other orange 
or mandarin that we grow. 3. It should perhaps be considered more an 
ornamental than anything else — the fruit is small and not very wonderful. 
In flavor it is not much better than the Cleopatra; in size and color 
and peel characteristics it is perhaps midway between the Cleopatra and 
the China mandarin. The fruit is by no means sour, but it is not s 
sweet as to bolster one’s confidence that "tien" does transcribe the 
Chinese for "sweet." Note from Elling Eide 2- 
