The fruit looks like a mandarin and was sold as 'Lo Kan' though the proper name appears to be 'Lokan' as evidenced by web searches. Each fruit is individually wrapped in a cellophane wrapper branded with the name 'zügar' and the caption "Just taste it!" Observations of one fruit: - About the same size and weight as Honey Murcott but more rounded; - Rough textured skin similar to a basketball but much less pronounced; - Slightly ribbed form similar to a baby pumpkin but much less pronounced; appears to have same number of ribs as segments; - Some fruits have a slight neck similar to Minneola but less pronounced; - Dimpled/recessed bottom; - Thin, tight skin but easy to peel; - 10 segments with 8 large, round seeds with light-green cotyledons;
Possibly this or a similar plant. "Lo han" might be fairly broadly applied in practice. From your description I can't tell if you bought what is definitely a citrus or if it could be a curcubit. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/nexus/Momordica_charantia_nex.html
The taste of the fruit leaves little doubt that this is a mandarin or a mandarin hybrid. I plan on returning to the store to see if I can get a look at the box or container that they came in. There is very little information on these fruits but they seem to come from China.
Citrus reticulata 'Ponkan'. http://translate.google.com/transla...CC&prev=/search?q=lokan+citrus&hl=en&lr=&sa=G
Interesting, Ron. I'll have follow up with this name; it seems to say Lokan = Ponkan. The fruits certainly look very similar to the ones in the photo. If you look closely at the two leftmost fruits at the bottom you can see the slight ribbing that I described. Thanks.
Judging from how it's presented on the translated page it's probably something akin to Citrus reticulata 'Ponkan' LOKAN(TM), the LOKAN being a selling name used to market the 'Ponkan' cultivar. Or perhaps it could be their version of a common name, like ju gar. Or a mistranslation.
Lokan could be the common name in a particular locale. In any case the description for Ponkan in The Citrus Industry - Vol 1 fits this fruit.
Sure enough I found another batch of similar looking fruits being sold as 'Lu Gan'. Again they were individually wrapped in cellophane which likely means they are marketed as relatively low production, specialty items.
I searched Google for "citrus reticulata lukon" or one of the other combinations (I don't keep my history very long).
Below is a link that adds some intrigue to this issue. I believe Lokan has been used as a generic name for years as I've seen some Kinnow Mandarins years ago sold under the Lokan name. What makes this link fun is that there appears to be two different Mandarins sold as Lugan and Lokan. Notice how these and the Lokam are being marketed and look at the company names of each one. I don't know what to tell you what is going on. Pakistan Fresh Orange / Kinno (Mandarin) Jim
