There are 4 types of fruit in the picture above. They look similar but, in fact, they are not:

1. The clementine is a tangor, a hybrid of mandarin and sweet orange. Clementines are small, with thin peels, they’re sweeter than most mandarins, and, most often, they are seedless or have 1-2 seeds in each fruit. Sometimes producers indicate on the label, which is located on the box of fruit, that those are not simply mandarins but clementines.

2. The fruit in this picture is oftentimes called the honey mandarine of the Murcott species, but it’s also known as the honey tangerine. It’s also a “tango” of the Murcott variety. This fruit is of medium size, it can be flattened on top and looks like a ball, it has a thin peel that is difficult to remove, and its color becomes yellowish-orange when the fruit ripens. The pulp has a juicy and saturated taste. It’s hard to recognize such a “mandarin” visually, which is why you should be sure to check any stickers — manufacturers often indicate the word Murcott on them.

3. This is a tangerine that is considered a variety of mandarin, but sometimes it’s perceived as a separate species. Tangerines are medium in size and orange-red in color, with a thin skin that is easy to remove. There are seeds inside, but there are few of them, and the pulp is sweet. Tangerines should not be confused with tangelos, a hybrid of tangerine and pomelo. It’s easy to recognize tangelos by their shape — this fruit is more rounded but with a pronounced neck at the place where the fruit attaches to the tree. There is sweet and juicy pulp inside the fruit, which is perfect for making freshly-squeezed juice.

4. It’s also a tangerine of the Sunburst variety, obtained by crossing 2 types of tangelos, which, in turn, are hybrids of tangelo and clementine. This fruit has quite a large size compared to other mandarins and hybrids, it has a saturated bright-orange color, and it’s more rounded. It has a juicy and sweet pulp inside, several seeds, and the fruit itself is easy to peel.

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