Citrus × sinensis 'Cara Cara' ~ Cara Cara Navel Orange

Cara Cara Navel Orange is a large fruit-producing evergreen shrub or small tree that forms a lush spreading mound with aromatic foliage and has extremely sweet fruit ready for harvest in winter.  The highly fragrant creamy white flowers bloom in early spring.  Cara Cara fruits are seedless with very sweet red flesh that has a unique taste with notes of berries and spice.  Grows best in full sun and deep, evenly moist, sandy to loamy well-drained acidic soils.  Cannot tolerate frost.  Cara Cara is noted for being almost disease free.

MAINTENANCE NEEDS: Medium Maintenance.  Susceptible to a number of diseases and pests; potential diseases include greasy spot, stem-end rot, sweet orange scab, citrus canker, and citrus greening disease.  Pests to watch for are citrus rust mite, citrus snow scale, purple scale, Florida red scale, mealybugs, whiteflies, aphids, and fruit flies. 

LANDSCAPE USES:  Accents or Group Plantings, Borders, Naturalized Areas, Wildlife Garden, Foundation Plantings, Hedges, and Containers.

COMPANION PLANTS: Lavender, Oregano, Alyssum

IMAGES: Photoset by Forest and Kim Starr, (1) Starr-190518-6524-Citrus sinensis-Cara Cara Navel Orange fruit-Hawea Pl Olinda-Maui (48301582987), CC BY 2.0, (2) Starr-171115-1107-Citrus sinensis-Cara Cara navel fruiting habit-Hawea Pl Olinda-Maui (38082013974), CC BY 3.0 US, (3) Starr-170923-0254-Citrus sinensis-Cara Cara Navel flowers-Hawea Pl Olinda-Maui - Flickr - Starr Environmental, CC BY 2.0, (4) Starr-190518-6523-Citrus sinensis-Cara Cara Navel Orange fruiting habit in home orchard-Hawea Pl Olinda-Maui (48301582207), CC BY 2.0, (5) Cara Cara Navel Orange Chimera

*As plants have ranges in appearance they may not appear as the images shown.