How Do Trees Produce Seedless Oranges?

Seedless orange trees are grown from grafts.

Seedless oranges are a genetic mutation cultivated by orange growers. Seedless oranges are easier and less messy to eat than regular oranges, but since the oranges do not produce seeds, growers must control their cultivation.

Origin

Seedless orange trees first produced seedless fruit through a genetic mutation. Seedless navel oranges all come from one 19th century Brazilian tree.

Laboratory Growth

Scientists irradiate seeds of some orange trees to mutate them into producing seedless fruit. They then plant the seeds and cultivate their new seedless species. Scientists can also grow seedless orange trees in the laboratory by planting cells of the plant in a growing medium.

In the Garden

Growers can reproduce seedless orange trees in the garden through graftings or cuttings. Graftings involve securing a branch of a seedless orange tree to the trunk of another tree, and cuttings involve rooting the tips of branches removed from an existing tree.

Developments

Botanists are continually researching new varieties of seedless orange trees. The main method of creating new varieties is to cross-breed existing seedless orange trees.

Farmer Preferences

Growers and scientists also work on developing varieties of seedless trees that are more attractive to farmers. This would mean grafting, cutting or using lab developments to develop disease- and pest-resistant varieties.

References

• Chow: How Does Seedless Fruit Reproduce?
• MadSci Network: How do Seedless Oranges Reproduce?