Kingsville sport or reversion?

[lordy]

I got a new Kingsville today. Or at least part of it is. The tree is about 1" caliper, but the foliage is more pointed than what I know of as Kingsvilles. There happens to be one lone branch that has the normal look leaves. That branch is almost at ground level and nearly appears to emanate from the soil, but it is attached to the main trunk. Hopefully you can see the diff in the pics below. Does anyone recognize the more pointed leaves as a different variety? Or did the Kingsville revert to what it came from?

First pic is the small lower branch with normal looking leaves. Some elongated ones are in the background.
Second pic is the way the rest of the tree looks, with more elongated leaves

 

[Beng]

Not sure, but kingsvilles leaves are usually a little curled in like yours and the size is right so that's a plus. I'd walk out to my greenhouse to look at mine, but i'm feeling a little lazy as I just finished a day of sifting soil...

 

[lordy]

If yours is the conventional variety of Kingsville it will look like what is in the foreground of the first pic. No need to put the halt to a perfectly good beer break!

 

[Brent]

First, let me say I am no geneticist, but here is how I understand it: Many species, cultivars, etc may have several phenotypes (genetic coding) for certain characteristics, such as leaf shape, flower color, growth habit, etc. Normally, only one phenotype is expressed. So, for 'Kingsville' ('Compacta'), the phenotype for small leaves and tiny growth habit is expressed. There are several other phenotypes for habit and leaf shape and size that CAN be expressed. I have seen about a half dozen different phenotypes for 'Kingsville' that have sported from the usual small plant with which we are all familiar. All have been considerably larger and more vigorous, and left to their own devices, the sport will over run the 'Kingsville' phenotype completely. As far as I know the trigger for expressing a non expressed phenotype is not well understood.

In a finished tree, you should remove these sports (phenotypes) when they appear to prevent distorting your tree. However, for trees in training, you can use this phenomenon to produce vastly larger trunks in a much shorter period of time for 'Kingsville'. You just let the sport grow until you get the trunk size you want, being careful not to let it over run the 'Kingsville' trunk or branch. Then you remove the sport and continue to rub out buds that appear in that area, and only allow the 'Kingsville' portion to grow while finishing the tree.

I have one fantastic tree that sported a twisted phenotype on 'Kingsville' which I let grow for over twenty years. It has produced an incredible contorted thick trunk of about an inch in caliper. I have removed the twisted live branches and am now training just the 'Kingsville' for a unique tree.

Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com

 

[lordy]

unfortunately, in this tree specifically, if I removed all the sport growth I would be left with perhaps 10% that is not. I will need to work with it as it is, and that is OK. The sport is attractive and exhibits similar growth habit of conventional Kingsville: slow, and compact.