The Dancytangerine (zipper-skin tangerine, kid-glove orange) is one of the oldest and formerly most popular American citrus varieties, but is now rarely sold.[3]
It has an intense, medium-sweet flavour, and its juice is more strongly-flavoured than orange juice.[3][5] It is known (and sometimes named) for its loose, pliable peel, which is mainly orange flavedo, with very little bitter white mesocarp (also called albedo or pith). This allows the peel to be eaten fresh and used to flavour dishes like tangerine beef.[3] The Dancy may be a pure mandarin, unlike many commercial citrus cultivars, which are hybrids.[6]
Until the 1970s, most tangerines grown and eaten in the US were Dancys.[5] It is no longer widely commercially grown; it is too delicate to ship well, it is susceptible to Alternaria fungus, and it bears more heavily in alternate years;[1] the thin skin also transpires in storage,[3] and it was difficult to harvest mechanically.[5] Some hybrids are also more cold-hardy than Dancy.[7]
2012 was the first year since 1874 that no Dancys were sold on the US market.[5] The cultivar is still widely sold by nurseries for backyard planting.[5]
^ abcLarry K. Jackson and Stephen H. Futch. "HS169/CH074: Dancy Tangerine". ufl.edu. Number HS169 of a series of the Horticultural Sciences Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date September 1993. Revised March 2003. Reviewed January 2015.
