CSIRO ScienceImage 3400 The Australian Outback Lime

Australian limes are species of the plant genus ''

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

'' that are native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. These species were formerly included in the genera ''Microcitrus'' and ''Eremocitrus''. They have been used as a food source by

indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

as well as early settlers and are used in modern Australian cuisine, including

marmalade Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamo ...

and sauces. Species include:

Species from Australia

Natural species

*''

Citrus australasica ''Citrus australasica'', the Australian finger lime or caviar lime, is a thorny understorey shrub or small tree of lowland subtropical rainforest and rainforest in the coastal border region of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. It has e ...

'' (Finger lime), a species from rainforest regions of northern New South Wales and Southern Queensland with elongated yellow-green to purple fruits. Citrus australasica green fruit1

*''

Citrus australis ''Citrus australis'', the Dooja, round lime, Australian lime or Australian round lime, is a large shrub or small tree producing an edible fruit. It grows in forest margins in the Beenleigh area and northwards, in Queensland, Australia ...

'' (Round lime or Dooja), a species from south-eastern Australia with round, green fruits *'' Citrus glauca'' (Desert lime), from arid inland areas of inland Australia. Small round fruits are produced in summer. Citrus glauca fruit

* ''

Citrus garrawayi ''Citrus garrawayi'', the Mount White lime, is a tree native to the Cape York region of northern Queensland in Australia. It is an understory tree in tropical rainforests Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of t ...

'', (Mount White lime) is rare and endemic to the Cook District of

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

. * '' Citrus gracilis'' (Kakadu lime or Humpty Doo lime) grows in eucalypt woodland in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and was first described in the scientific literature in 1998. * ''

Citrus inodora ''Citrus inodora'' or ''Microcitrus inodora'', commonly known as Russell River lime or large leaf Australian wild lime, is a tree native to the Bellenden-Ker Range in northern Queensland, Australia. It grows in lowland tropical rainforest ...

'' (Russell River lime or large-leaf Australian wild lime) is rare, and endemic to northern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. * ''

Citrus maideniana ''Citrus inodora'' or ''Microcitrus inodora'', commonly known as Russell River lime or large leaf Australian wild lime, is a tree native to the Bellenden-Ker Range in northern Queensland, Australia. It grows in lowland tropical rainforest ...

'' (Maiden's Australian wild lime) may be a subspecies of ''C. inodora''.

Cultivars

CSIRO ScienceImage 3592 New lime varieties bred from native Australian limes

A number of

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s have been developed in recent years. These can be grafted on to standard

citrus rootstocks Citrus rootstock are plants used as rootstock for citrus plants. A rootstock plant must be compatible for scion (grafting), scion grafting, and resistant to common threats, such as drought, cold hardy citrus, frost, and common list of citrus disease ...

. They may be grown as ornamental trees in the garden or in containers. Grafted standards are available for some varieties. The cultivars include: *'Australian Outback' (or 'Australian Desert'), developed from several desert lime varieties *'Australian Red Centre' (or 'Australian Blood' or

Blood Lime Blood limes (or 'Australian Blood Lime') are a hybrid citrus fruit developed by the CSIRO project to investigate salt-resistant crops. While the limes proved suitable for high-salt conditions, they have seen no commercial development; the first ...

), a cross of finger lime and a mandarin-lemon or mandarin-sweet orange hybrid *'Australian Sunrise', a hybrid cross of finger lime and a

calomondin Calamansi (''Citrus'' × ''microcarpa''), also known as calamondin, Philippine lime, or Philippine lemon, is an economically important citrus hybrid predominantly cultivated in the Philippines. It is native to the Philippines, Borneo, Sumatra, ...

which is pear shaped and orange inside * 'Rainforest Pearl', a pink-fruited form of finger lime from

Bangalow, New South Wales Bangalow is a small town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia in Byron Shire. The town is north of Sydney and south of Brisbane, just off the Pacific Highway. The town's name appears to have been derived from an Aborig ...

* 'Sunrise Lime ', parentage unknown * 'Outback Lime', a desert lime cultivar

Species from Papua New Guinea

* ''

Citrus warburgiana ''Citrus warburgiana''. the kakamadu or New Guinea wild lime, grows on the south coast of the Papuan Peninsula near Alotau in Papua-New Guinea. It is a poorly known tree species. It has dark green, spherical fruits about in diameter. It is tax ...

'' (Kakamadu or New Guinea wild lime) grows on the south coast of the

Papuan Peninsula The Papuan Peninsula, also known as the Bird's Tail Peninsula, is a large peninsula in Papua New Guinea, southeast of the city of Lae, that makes up the southeastern portion of the island of New Guinea. The peninsula is the easternmost extent of t ...

near

Alatau Alatau or Ala-Too ( kk, ; tr, Аladağ; ky, Ала-Тоо; russian: Алатау) is a generic name for a number of mountain ranges in Central Asia, characterized by interleaving areas of vegetation, scattered rocks and snows. Notable mountain ...

(pictures)
*''

Citrus wakonai ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

'' (also locally called kakamadu) has been reported from

Goodenough Island Goodenough Island in the Solomon Sea, also known as Nidula Island, is the westernmost of the three large islands of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. It lies to the east of mainland New Guinea and southwest ...

. * '' Citrus wintersii'', also known as ''Citrus papuana'' (Brown River finger lime) has, as the name suggests, a small, thin fruit, pointed at both ends
pictures
. It grows near

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

. * '' Clymenia sp.'' are native to the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

but are cultivated in other areas. ''Clymenia'' is now often considered to belong within the citrus genus. **''

Clymenia platypoda ''Clymenia'' may refer to: * ''Clymenia'' (ammonite), an ammonite genus in the family Clymeniidae * ''Clymenia'' (plant), a flowering plant genus in the family Rutaceae {{genus disambiguation ...

'' **''

Clymenia polyandra ''Clymenia'' may refer to: * ''Clymenia'' (ammonite), an ammonite genus in the family Clymeniidae * ''Clymenia'' (plant), a flowering plant genus in the family Rutaceae {{genus disambiguation ...

'' has a lemon-sized round fruit, pointed at one en
(pictures)
Citrus species in

have not been extensively studied, so the true number of species is unknown.

Identification

A
identification key
(p. 6 or 338) exists for the known Australian limes (not including species from

). The leaves of some species broaden dramatically with age.

References

{{citrus Bushfood Limes (fruit) Flora of Papua New Guinea Sapindales of Australia Citrus