Australian lime
Australian limes are species of the plant genus Citrus that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea.
These species were formerly included in the genera Microcitrus and Eremocitrus. They have been used as a food source by indigenous Australians and Indigenous New Guineans as well as early settlers and are used in modern Australian cuisine, including marmalade and sauces.
Species include:
Species from Australia
Natural species
- Citrus australasica, a species from rainforest regions of northern New South Wales and Southern Queensland with elongated yellow-green to purple fruits.
- Citrus australis, a species from south-eastern Australia with round, green fruits
- Citrus glauca, from arid areas of inland Australia. Small round fruits are produced in summer. Citrus garrawayi, is rare and endemic to the Cook District of Cape York Peninsula.Citrus gracilis grows in eucalypt woodland in the Northern Territory and was first described in the scientific literature in 1998.Citrus inodora is rare, and endemic to northern Queensland.Citrus maideniana may be a subspecies of C. inodora.
Cultivars
A number of cultivars have been developed in recent years. These can be grafted on to standard citrus rootstocks. 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', developed from several desert lime varieties
- 'Australian Blood', 'Australian Red Centre' or Blood Lime, a cross of finger lime and an acid-mandarin.
- 'Australian Sunrise', a hybrid cross of finger lime and a calomondin which is pear shaped and orange inside'Rainforest Pearl', a pink-fruited form of finger lime from Bangalow, [New South Wales]'Sunrise Lime', a hybrid of finger lime and calamondin.'Outback Lime', a desert lime cultivar
Species from Papua New Guinea
Citrus warburgiana grows on the south coast of the Papuan Peninsula near Alotau .- Citrus wakonai has been reported from Goodenough Island.Citrus wintersii, also known as Citrus papuana has, as the name suggests, a small, thin fruit, pointed at both ends. It grows near Port Moresby.Clymenia sp. are native to the Bismarck Archipelago but are cultivated in other areas. Clymenia is now often considered to belong within the citrus genus.
- *Clymenia platypoda
- *Clymenia polyandra has a lemon-sized round fruit, pointed at one end .