Does citrus come true from seed?
Don't let anyone tell you citrus don't come true from seed, they are wrong. 99% of citrus come true from seed and it is nearly impossible to hybridize them.
Google nucellar polyembryony. A few that don't include lee mandarin, clementine, pummelo, meyer lemon, and temple. The few that don't are frequently used to make crosses. I have 3 USDA recently released crosses of lee, lee x nova, lee x orlando, and lee x robinson.
http://citruspages.free.fr/classification.html#embryony
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucellar_embryony
I have grown some from seed, sunquat, sour orange, and others. The sunquat flowered in the 2nd year. A friend waited 17 years for a cocktail seedling to bloom. It varies but usually will flower by 5 years. I am currently growing out from seed sugar belle as the budwood is not available in Texas for grafting. I put the seedling on a swingle rootstock as seedlings sometimes don't have the best root system. It should take about 5 years to flower. My sugar belle seedling currently has 2-3 inch thorns. When the tree is mature the thorns usually go away at the top of the tree. I was growing a shiranui seedling but not now that the budwood should be available in Texas in a year or two. Others in Texas are growing out sumo or shiranui. It is not worth it IMHO to grow out a seedling when budwood is available for grafting. However a seedling can be a cheap tree. Satsuma seedlings likely will flower in 5 years, not have any thorns, and do good on their own roots. Most meyer lemons are grown on their own roots from cuttings. I have seen a seedling kumquat with 3 inch thorns near the ground and no thorns as the top. Seedlings tend to have upright growth habit as well
Note the time to flower depends on whether it is in the ground or pot. In a pot it might never get big enough to flower. My seedlings are in the ground.
Not true to seed
Meyer lemon
Ichang papeda
Australian desert lime
Citrus indica
nagami kumquat
pummelo
citron
Persian lime
Bergamot.
New Zealand Grapefruit
Clementines
Ellendale
Encore
Fortune
Fremont
Temple
Ugli
Umatilla
True to seed:
Mexican lime
Candace Rusk Troyer
‘Rough lemon’
‘Rangpur’ lime,
‘Otaheite’ lime
Palestine lime (Indian sweet lime)
‘Calamondin’
Grapefruit
Sweet oranges
'Nasnaran' mandarin
‘Shekwasha’ mandarin
‘Karna’, ‘Khatta’
‘Kishu mandarin’
‘Kokni’ or ‘Monkey mandarin’
‘Alemow’
Cleopatra’ mandarin
Citrus sunki (Citrus reticulata var. austera)
Sour mandarin
Citrus trifoliata (Poncirus trifoliata)
Trifoliate orange
Dancy
Emperor
Empress
Fairchild
Kara
Freeman
Kinnow
Mediterranean (Avana, Tardivo di Ciaculli)
Murcott
Naartje
Nova (Clemenvilla)
Ortanique
Ponkan
Sampson
Satsumas
Willowleaf (Común)
Fino (Primofiori)
Verna (Berna)
Eureka
Lisbon
Marrakech limetta
Fukushu kumquat (Fortunella obovata)
Nanshôdaidai
Seedling sugar belle on swingle rootstock, I grew out a seedling large enough to get budwood and budded it to a rootstock.
Google nucellar polyembryony. A few that don't include lee mandarin, clementine, pummelo, meyer lemon, and temple. The few that don't are frequently used to make crosses. I have 3 USDA recently released crosses of lee, lee x nova, lee x orlando, and lee x robinson.
http://citruspages.free.fr/classification.html#embryony
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucellar_embryony
I have grown some from seed, sunquat, sour orange, and others. The sunquat flowered in the 2nd year. A friend waited 17 years for a cocktail seedling to bloom. It varies but usually will flower by 5 years. I am currently growing out from seed sugar belle as the budwood is not available in Texas for grafting. I put the seedling on a swingle rootstock as seedlings sometimes don't have the best root system. It should take about 5 years to flower. My sugar belle seedling currently has 2-3 inch thorns. When the tree is mature the thorns usually go away at the top of the tree. I was growing a shiranui seedling but not now that the budwood should be available in Texas in a year or two. Others in Texas are growing out sumo or shiranui. It is not worth it IMHO to grow out a seedling when budwood is available for grafting. However a seedling can be a cheap tree. Satsuma seedlings likely will flower in 5 years, not have any thorns, and do good on their own roots. Most meyer lemons are grown on their own roots from cuttings. I have seen a seedling kumquat with 3 inch thorns near the ground and no thorns as the top. Seedlings tend to have upright growth habit as well
Note the time to flower depends on whether it is in the ground or pot. In a pot it might never get big enough to flower. My seedlings are in the ground.
Not true to seed
Meyer lemon
Ichang papeda
Australian desert lime
Citrus indica
nagami kumquat
pummelo
citron
Persian lime
Bergamot.
New Zealand Grapefruit
Clementines
Ellendale
Encore
Fortune
Fremont
Temple
Ugli
Umatilla
True to seed:
Mexican lime
Candace Rusk Troyer
‘Rough lemon’
‘Rangpur’ lime,
‘Otaheite’ lime
Palestine lime (Indian sweet lime)
‘Calamondin’
Grapefruit
Sweet oranges
'Nasnaran' mandarin
‘Shekwasha’ mandarin
‘Karna’, ‘Khatta’
‘Kishu mandarin’
‘Kokni’ or ‘Monkey mandarin’
‘Alemow’
Cleopatra’ mandarin
Citrus sunki (Citrus reticulata var. austera)
Sour mandarin
Citrus trifoliata (Poncirus trifoliata)
Trifoliate orange
Dancy
Emperor
Empress
Fairchild
Kara
Freeman
Kinnow
Mediterranean (Avana, Tardivo di Ciaculli)
Murcott
Naartje
Nova (Clemenvilla)
Ortanique
Ponkan
Sampson
Satsumas
Willowleaf (Común)
Fino (Primofiori)
Verna (Berna)
Eureka
Lisbon
Marrakech limetta
Fukushu kumquat (Fortunella obovata)
Nanshôdaidai
Seedling sugar belle on swingle rootstock, I grew out a seedling large enough to get budwood and budded it to a rootstock.
Sugar belle seedling thorns
