Loquat Varieties

Variety	Harvest Season¹	Fruit Size²	Fruit Wt (Grams)³	Fruit Shape	Peel Color⁴	Pulp Color⁴	Fruit Flavor	No. of seeds	Peel Thickness	Rec.⁵
Advance	M	M-L	15-17	pear	Y	W	sweet-tart	1-2	thin	Y
Champagne	M-L	M-L	14-24	pear	PY-PO	W-LY	sweet, spicy flavor	2	thin	Y
Emanuel	M	M-L	13-16	pear	DY-O	DY-O	mildy sweet, good flavor	2-3	thin	Y
FCN#3	E, M, L	S-M	10-15	pear	O	DY-O	sweet	1-3	thick	Y
Gold Nugget	M-L	M-L	17-18	round	O	O	mildly sweet, fair flavor	3-6	thick	N
Golitch	M	M-L	14-18	round	O	O	mildly sweet, fair flavor	2-4	thick	Y
Juda	M-L	M-L	11-15	pear	PO	DY-PO	sweet, mildly tart, good	2-4	thin	Y
Judith	M	S-M	10-21	pear	DY-O	DY-O	mild, sweet	1-3	thick	Y
MOG20126	M-L	M	16-19	pear	O	O	mildly sweet, good	1-3	thin	Y
Oliver	M-L	M-L	14-15	pear	O	PO	very sweet, good flavor	1-2	thick	Y
Seedling #1	M-L	M-L	13-14	pear	PY-DY	W	sweet, good flavor	1-2	thick	Y
Seedling #2	M-L	M-L	18-19	pear	Y-O	DY	sweet, very good flavor	1-2	thick	Y
Seedling #3	M-L	M	14-17	pear	O	O	mildly sweet, good flavor	2	thick	Y
SES #1	M-L	M-L	21-22	pear	Y	W	sweet, apple-like, good	1-2	thin	Y
SES #2	M	M-L	16-17	pear	PY	PY-DY	sweet, good flavor	2-3	thin	Y
Sherry	M-L	M-L	25-29	pear	Y	W-PY	mildly sweet, fair to good	1-3	thick
Tanaka (Fl)	M-L	S	5-6	round	DY	DY-PO	mildly sweet, fair flavor	2-4	thin	N
Thales	E, M, L	S-M	9-11	pear	DY-O	Y-O	sweet, good flavor	1-2	thin	Y
Thursby	M-L	S-M	14-15	pear	DY-O	DY	mildly sweet-tart, good	2-3	thick	Y
Wolfe	M-L	L	14-15	pear	LY-Y	W-PO	sweet-tart, spicy good	1-2	thin	Y
¹E, Feb.-March; M, March-April; L, April-May. ² S, small; M, medium; L, large. ³ 1 ounce equals about 28 grams. ⁴ Y, yellow; W, white; LY, light yellow; DY, dark yellow; O, orange; PY, pale yellow; PO, pale orange. ⁵ Recommendation for planting in the home landscape; Y, yes; N, no.

'Advance'
(Japanese group)–A seedling selected by C. P. Taft in California in 1897. Fruit is borne in large clusters; pear-shaped to elliptic-round; of medium to large size; skin downy, yellow, thick and tough; flesh thick, cream-colored, juicy, subacid, of excellent flavor. Seeds of medium size, may be as many as 4 or 5; average is 3.20 per fruit. A late cultivar though it ripens earlier than 'Champagne' which it other-wise closely resembles. Tree is a natural dwarf, to a little over 5 ft (1.58 m); is highly resistant to fire blight. Self-infertile; a good pollinator for other cultivars. It is interplanted with 'Golden Yellow' and 'Pale Yellow' in India. ²

'Champagne'
'Champagne' (Japanese), often misidentified as 'Early Red'. Selected and introduced into cultivation in California by C. P. Taft around 1908. Elongated pear-shaped, often oblique; small to large (depending on where it is grown); skin pale-golden to deep-yellow, thick, tough, astringent; flesh white or yellow, soft, juicy, mild and subacid to sweet; of excellent flavor. There are 3 to 5 seeds. Midseason to late. Prolific; fruits borne in large clusters. Perishable; good for preserving. Tree has long, narrow, pointed leaves; is self -infertile. ²

'Italy'
New grafted cultivar from budwood brought from Italy. Very hardy fruit tree, easy to grow, drought tolerant, fast growing. Fruit are large size, yellow orange skin with yellow flesh, very sweet with no acid taste.

'Gold Nugget'
Loquat 'Gold Nugget' has extra large sweet fruit. Very cold hardy fruit tree, easy to grow, drought tolerant, fast growing. Fruit are large size, yellow orange flesh, mildly sweet with very small seed inside. In Florida fruit ripens in late February-March. Fruit is great for eating fresh or making jam.
Large, round to oblong-obovate fruit. Skin yellow-orange to orange, not thick, tender. Flesh orange-colored, juicy, firm and meaty. Flavor sweet, somewhat reminiscent of apricot, quality good. Seeds 4 or 5, the seed cavity not large. Fruits borne only a few to a cluster, keep and ship well. Tree vigorous, upright, self-fertile. ³

'Yehuda' ('Jehuda', 'Yehada')
Loquat, Japanese Plum - Yehuda variety. Very cold hardy fruit tree, easy to grow, drought tolerant, fast growing. Fruit are large size, yellow orange flesh, mildly sweet with very small seed inside. In Florida fruit ripens in late February-March. Fruit is great for eating fresh or making jam.

'X-mas'
This variety ripens very early in the season, escaping most of the hard January and February freezes. Fruit is huge, up to 1 1/2inches in diameter. Bright yellow with a tangy apricot flavor.

'Lovett'
A chance seedling originating in central Florida. Pale yellow loquats with pure white honey sweet centers. Ripens early spring.

'Bradenton'
Bradenton' is a vigorous tree that bears large, 2 inch long, excellent flavored fruits. Fruit ripens late, in April.

'Oliver'
('Olivier' × 'Tanaka'). In the past was considered the best loquat for southern Florida.

'Premier'
'Premier' is a slow-growing loquat with fruit that is sweet and of excellent quality. Fruit size is approximately 1 inch in diameter and 1¼ inch in length. (originated by Taft in California in 1899)–oval to oblong-pear-shaped; large; skin downy, orange-yellow to salmon-orange with large white dots; medium-thick, tough; flesh whitish, melting, juicy, subacid, of agreeable flavor; seeds average 4 or 5 per fruit. Late. Good for dooryards. Does not ship well, nor keep well. ²

'SES #2'
'SES #2' is a variety developed by the University of Florida Experiment Station and was never officially released. Dr. Martin Price, ECHO's executive director, found this variety to be the best tasting one among the varieties in his personal collection. It has a large, yellow, sweet fruit.

'Sherry'
'Sherry' is another yellow-skinned, sweet cultivar.

'Tanaka'
Named after Dr. Yoshio Tanaka. Very large fruit, usually obovoid, weight 2 to 3 ounces. Skin orange-yellow, attractive. Flesh firm, rich orange, aromatic, slightly acidic to sweet, of excellent flavor. Seeds 2 to 4. Ripens very late, the beginning of May in California. Keeps unusually long, if left for a week it wrinkles and dries but does not rot. Tree vigorous and productive. ³

'Thales'
'Thales', also known as 'Gold Nugget' and 'Placentia', (Chinese group; very similar to 'Tanaka' and possibly a clone. Introduced from Japan and planted at Placentia, California, between 1880 and 1900)–oblong-obovate to round, large, skin orange-yellow with numerous white dots, tough; flesh, orange, thick, firm, juicy, of sweet, apricot-like flavor. There are 2 to 4 seeds. Late in season. Fruits borne only a few to a cluster; keep and ship well. Self-fertile. ²

'Wolfe'
(S.E.S. #4) (a seedling of 'Advance' selected and named at the Agricultural Research and Education Center of the University of Florida in Homestead, and released in 1966)–obovoid to slightly pear-shaped; 1 3/4 to 2 in (4.5-5 cm) long and 1 to 1 1/4 in (2.5-3.2 cm) wide; yellow with fairly thick skin and pale-yellow, thick, firm, juicy flesh of excellent flavor, acid but also sweet when tree-ripe; has 1 to 5 seeds (usually 1 to 3). Tree reaches 25 ft (7.5 in) and bears well nearly every year. ²

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Bibliography

¹ Crane, Jonathan H. and Caldeira M. Lilia. "Loquat Growing in the Florida Home Landscape." edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Document HS5, one of a series of the Horticultural Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date January 1980, Revised October 2005 and November 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
² Fruits of Warm Climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, 1987.
³"Loquat." crfg.org. 1969-1989. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.

Published 8 Oct. 2014 LR. Last update 23 Mar. 2017 LR