The mandarins are small citrus fruit resembling oranges, but less sour, sweeter and stronger mandarins are smaller and oblate, rather than spherical like the common oranges which are the mandarin hybrid a rip mandarin is firm to slightly soft, heavy for its size and pebbly-skinned the peel is very thin, with very little bitter white mesocarp, so they are usually easier to peel and to split into segments. Hybrids generally have these traits to a lesser degree. China is a leading producer of mandarins.