Mandarin orange

The mandarin orange, often called simply the mandarin, is a small, rounded citrus fruit treated as a distinct species of orange. Unlike the roughly spherical sweet orange, it is small and oblate, with a taste sweeter and stronger than the common orange. A ripe fruit is firm to slightly soft, heavy for its size, and pebbly skinned, with a thin, loose peel and little white pith, making it easier to peel and separate into segments than most other citrus. The tree is tender and easily damaged by cold, so it is grown mainly in tropical and subtropical regions.