23 responses |
J starts with ... Today I was at Bunnings (in melbourne) and noticed a variety of lemon and lime that I had not seen before. One was labeled "Australian Lime" and the other was "Lemon Thornless". Doing a bit more research I located the wholesale nursery that produces these varieties: Murray Valley Nurseries. Descriptions can be found here: http://www.murrayvalleynurseries.com.au/limes.html Australian Lime - This tree has no thorns. Heavy continuous cropping. Main crop in Spring and intermitant throughout the year. Fruit left on the tree will change flavour from traditional lime to taste a sweeter flavour, and can be used in drinks or as a garnish. The flesh has an orange tinge. Fruit peels easily. http://www.murrayvalleynurseries.com.au/lemons.html Thornless - The Thornless Lemon originated in South Australia. This is a strain of Lemon which is very similar to Eureka in growing habits. The only difference would be that the fruit has a smooth skin and when the fruit is left on the tree after ripening the skin remains finer than that of the Eureka. Does any one know what these varieties are called around the world (for example key limes are known as west indian limes over here, so are australian limes known as something else as well?), Does anyone know the scientific names of these varieties and finally does any one have any experience growing them in melbourne (or anywhere else for that matter. What do the fruit taste like? are the trees fussy? do they crop continously as in their descriptions in a temperate climate? etc etc). Any info would help because I don't see these varieties often (mostly lisbon, eureka and meyer with lemons and tahitian and kaffir with limes) and would like to know if they are worth having. Thanks in advance for any replys! | About the Author J upwey, Melbourne 5th December 2010 7:20pm #UserID: 2954 Posts: 397 View All J's Edible Fruit Trees |
Phil@Tyalgum says... There is a comprehensive website you might like to take a look at http://users.kymp.net/citruspages/citrusindex.html It has just about every variety of citrus known plus photos and descriptions. | About the Author TyalgumPhil Murwillumbah 10th December 2010 6:09pm #UserID: 960 Posts: 1377 View All TyalgumPhil's Edible Fruit Trees |
|---|---|
| About the Author Wayne Mackay QLD 10th December 2010 7:27pm #UserID: 338 Posts: 908 View All Wayne's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author J upwey, Melbourne 12th December 2010 5:11pm #UserID: 2954 Posts: 397 View All J's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author C2 Melbourne 15th November 2012 3:25pm #UserID: 7424 Posts: 1 View All C2's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
J says... Thanks for the info, C. I got fruit my Australian lime this year, its definatly different from my tahitian lime. Fruit is very bumpy, and I must have left on the tree for too long, because the fruit were all yellow by the time I plucked them off the tree and pulp was very dry and flavourless. The tree itself is a vigorous grower and flowers like crazy. I'll get the limes when their green this season and I'll see if they are any good. The Thornless Lemon was a dud, pulled it out of the ground and potted it. Doing some what better | About the Author J Upwey, Melbourne 15th November 2012 3:37pm #UserID: 2954 Posts: 397 View All J's Edible Fruit Trees |
| About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas Brisbane 15th November 2012 3:54pm #UserID: 3270 Posts: 1552 View All Theposterformerlyknownas's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author J Upwey, Melbourne 15th November 2012 5:17pm #UserID: 2954 Posts: 397 View All J's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author MaryT Sydney 15th November 2012 5:49pm #UserID: 5412 Posts: 2066 View All MaryT's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author J Upwey, Melbourne 15th November 2012 6:29pm #UserID: 2954 Posts: 397 View All J's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author MaryT Sydney 15th November 2012 6:42pm #UserID: 5412 Posts: 2066 View All MaryT's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
Brain says... I'm curious as to what they actually are, so I'm going to weight in my 2 cents. MaryT's first pic - I think this could be a generic photo. The lime has seeds - so it can be West Indian Lime as Tahitian has no seeds. The skin is not lumpy, so can't be Dooja/Gympie lime or Kaffir lime. Yet if you look at one or two of the leaves, they are double leaves, which is Kaffir lime leaves. So I'm going to have to dismiss the stock photo as rather useless. As for the 2nd photo, at first glance, it looks like a Tahitian lime to me, as it has a little bit of the flower stalk remaining. To further confuse the issue, I've seen Australian Sweet lime on sale . Now, the leave shapes indicate it's definitely not a native to Aus. And researching sweet lime indicated there are some sweet lime from mediterrian origin or Indian/Parkistan or middle eastern knowns as Citrus limetta. Whether they are one of the same, I don't know. so my guess is, it's either a mislabled Tahitian lime or sweet lime (citrus limetta). My guess is, someone might have grown one from seeds for so long that the plant is now an Australian citizen. And as it probably isn't particularly sweet, so the 'sweet' is dropped. Thus "Australian Lime". As for Thornless Lemon - I've read literatures indicating there are Thornless Eureka or Lisbon about in Australia. So it's probably one of them. | About the Author Brain Brisbane 16th November 2012 12:15pm #UserID: 6289 Posts: 638 View All Brain's Edible Fruit Trees |
Reply |
| Remember to
LIKE this Answer(1)
LIKE this Question (0)
People who Like this Answer: Westy1 | |
Brain says... just to add, it can also be Palestine Sweet Lime (Citrus limettioides), as it has a close resemblance to tahitian lime. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/sweet_lime.html | About the Author Brain Brisbane 16th November 2012 12:52pm #UserID: 6289 Posts: 638 View All Brain's Edible Fruit Trees |
| About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas Brisbane 16th November 2012 1:14pm #UserID: 3270 Posts: 1552 View All Theposterformerlyknownas's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
MaryT says... The label on my "Australian Lime" said Citrus aurantiifolia but I agree with Brain that the label is probably useless as I also have an "Indonesian Lime" that had a Tahitian Lime label with the "Tahitian" crossed out with a marker and replaced with "Indonesian"!. I just hope my "Australian" is not a Tahitian as I already have one (though it's barren). Now that there are so many Julie Tree seedlings out there, I wonder if we should compare characteristics of these trees one day and see if they have anything in common :) Unfortunately I have given all but one away. So far the one I have has long thorns, large leaves and resembles another seedling that came out of my compost heap (which may be from a Seville I once had access to). | About the Author MaryT Sydney 16th November 2012 1:24pm #UserID: 5412 Posts: 2066 View All MaryT's Edible Fruit Trees |
Brain says... the more I think about it, and look in to comparing Palestine sweet lime (limettioides) with Sweet lime (limetta), the more I've come to the conclusion that my Australian Sweet lime is in fact limettioides (or its cousin). Based solely on leave shape from the pictures shown below. http://idtools.org/id/citrus/citrusid/factsheet.php?name=Palestine even then, throught natural variations, all the plants even with same genetics, can look different, so where is that DNA machine when you need one? To add to more confusion, the 'sweet lime' can be very sweet due to acid free, but the same sweet lime can also be full of acid. Though, I will have to wait for it to fruit to prove a defnite answer. As mine is quite small, 50cm, so a few years away yet. From the literature, if the lime is very fragant like a bergamot - then it's limetta, if not, then it will be limettioides. It is definitely different from my Tahitian and Sublime (west indian). hey Mary, I'm surprised that your Tahitian lime isn't producing, as that's easily the most prolific citrus plant of my collection. My only guess is probably because you are in sydney, it might be slightly colder than its liking. LOL. keep us updated when your Australian sweet lime fruit matures :) and we can all compare notes. | About the Author Brain Brisbane 16th November 2012 3:07pm #UserID: 6289 Posts: 638 View All Brain's Edible Fruit Trees |
| About the Author MaryT Sydney 16th November 2012 4:16pm #UserID: 5412 Posts: 2066 View All MaryT's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author VF Wongawallan 16th November 2012 8:27pm #UserID: 6795 Posts: 736 View All VF's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author MaryT Sydney 16th November 2012 10:05pm #UserID: 5412 Posts: 2066 View All MaryT's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author VF Wongawallan 17th November 2012 6:33am #UserID: 6795 Posts: 736 View All VF's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author MaryT Sydney 17th November 2012 9:02am #UserID: 5412 Posts: 2066 View All MaryT's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
| About the Author Brain Brisbane 2nd December 2012 10:41pm #UserID: 6289 Posts: 638 View All Brain's Edible Fruit Trees |
|
Charlton says... The Australian lime is probably a lime/mandarin cross, fruit is similar to rangpur, but milder, orange flesh, light yellow skin. It is prob. unknown outside Australia. The Sweet Lime limmeteoides is well known. Not sure if the 2 are closely related, but now that you mention it Brain, the leaves are a bit similar. The sweet lime fruit are very mild, with a hint of rosewater/turkish delight which you can get from the leaves. | About the Author Charlton egypt 2nd December 2012 11:04pm #UserID: 7444 Posts: 4 View All Charlton's Edible Fruit Trees |
Roozbeh says... We Iranians call it Sweet Lemon.(Limoo Shirin) shirin means sweet in Persian/Farsi. Please check: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_limetta | About the Author Roozbeh MILL PARK 8th September 2017 6:56pm #UserID: 16839 Posts: 1 View All Roozbeh's Edible Fruit Trees |
