What is the difference between a mandarin, satsuma & clementine?

Question

They all look the same, so why are they called by different names?

Answer 1

Actually, these are indeed three different varieties of the mandarin orange.

From Wikipedia
The Mandarin orange or mandarin is a small citrus tree (Citrus reticulata) with fruit resembling the orange. The fruit is oblate, rather than spherical, and roughly resembles a pumpkin in shape. Mandarin oranges are usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Specifically reddish orange mandarin cultivars can be marketed as a tangerine, but this is not a botanical classification.

Satsuma: It is commonly called mikan in Japan, satsuma in the UK, naartjie in Africa and mandarin or tangerine in Canada. In the United States, satsumas are most frequently marketed as tangerines. It is less commonly called satsuma tangerine, satsuma orange, or satsuma mandarin

Clementine: A clementine is the fruit of a variety of mandarin (Citrus reticulata), named in 1902. The traditional story is that it was "originally an accidental hybrid said to have been discovered by Father Clément Rodier in the garden of his orphanage in Misserghin, Algeria."[1] However, there are claims it originated in China much earlier. James Saunt writes: "Some authorities believe it is virtually identical to the variety known as the Canton mandarin widely grown in Gwangxi and Guangdong Provinces in China." In Arabic, it is called "Kalamintina".

Answer 2

thats the answer, the only difference is their names

Answer 3

they may look the same but they don't taste the same.