Australian lime
{{Short description|Lime cultivar}}
File:CSIRO ScienceImage 3400 The Australian Outback Lime.jpg, a cultivar of the desert lime (C. glauca)]]
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.{{cite web|author=Lindsay, Lenore |title=Australian Limes|work=Australian Plants Online|url=http://asgap.org.au/APOL2006/dec06-1.html|publisher=Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) |access-date=2010-11-16| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101205161143/http://asgap.org.au/APOL2006/dec06-1.html| archive-date= 5 December 2010 | url-status= dead}}{{cite web |url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/90267 |title=Eremocitrus |website=Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) |publisher=Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government |access-date=15 March 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/57108 |title=Microcitrus |website=Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) |publisher=Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government |access-date=15 March 2023}} 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.{{cite journal|title=Taming Wild Limes|journal=Ecos Magazine|year=2001|issue=107|publisher=CSIRO publishing|url=http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?paper=EC107p6}}{{cite web |title=Australian native citrus-wild species, cultivars and hybrids|publisher=Primary Industries and Resources SA|url=http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australiannativecitrus/Australian_Nativce_Citrus.pdf|access-date=2010-11-16}}
Species include:
{{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%
|label1=Australian limes
|1={{clade
|label1=former Eremocitrus
|label2=former Microcitrus
|2={{clade
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|2=Citrus maideniana }}
|2={{clade
|2=Citrus australasica }}
|3=Citrus australis}} }} }} }}
Species from Australia
=Natural species=
- Citrus australasica (Finger lime), a species from rainforest regions of northern New South Wales and Southern Queensland with elongated yellow-green to purple fruits. File:Citrus australasica green fruit1.JPG]]
- Citrus australis (Round lime or Dooja), a species from south-eastern Australia with round, green fruits
- Citrus glauca (Desert lime), from arid areas of inland Australia. Small round fruits are produced in summer. File:Citrus glauca fruit.jpg]]
- Citrus garrawayi, (Mount White lime) is rare and endemic to the Cook District of Cape York Peninsula.
- Citrus gracilis (Kakadu lime or Humpty Doo lime) grows in eucalypt woodland in the Northern Territory{{cite web|url=http://citruspages.free.fr/australian.html#gracilis|title=Citrus Pages / Native Australian varieties|author=Jorma Koskinen and Sylvain Jousse|work=free.fr}} and was first described in the scientific literature in 1998.{{cite web |url=http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/73236/Tel7Mab333.pdf |title=Archived copy |website=Rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002183628/http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/73236/Tel7Mab333.pdf |archive-date=2 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}
- Citrus inodora (Russell River lime or large-leaf Australian wild lime) is rare, and endemic to northern Queensland.
- Citrus maideniana (Maiden's Australian wild lime) may be a subspecies of C. inodora.{{cite web|url=http://citruspages.free.fr/australian.html#maideniana|title=Citrus Pages / Native Australian varieties|author=Jorma Koskinen and Sylvain Jousse|work=free.fr}}
=Cultivars=
File:CSIRO ScienceImage 3592 New lime varieties bred from native Australian limes.jpg (biggest, red), Sunrise Lime (orange, pear-shaped) and the Outback Lime, a small, green cultivar of the desert lime]]
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.{{cite web|title=From the outback to 'out the back' |publisher=CSIRO |date=12 August 2005 |url=http://www.csiro.au/news/LimeVarities.html |access-date=2010-11-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228033500/http://www.csiro.au/news/LimeVarities.html |archive-date=2011-02-28 }}
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{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}), a cross of finger lime{{Cite web|url=http://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/image/3592|title = CSIRO Science Image - CSIRO Science Image}} and a mandarin-lemon or mandarin-sweet orange hybrid
- '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 ', parentage unknown
- 'Outback Lime', a desert lime cultivar
Species from Papua New Guinea
- Citrus warburgiana (Kakamadu or New Guinea wild lime){{cite web|url=http://citruspages.free.fr/australian.html#warburgiana|title=Citrus Pages / Native Australian varieties|author=Jorma Koskinen and Sylvain Jousse|work=free.fr}}{{cite web|url=http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australiannativecitrus/CWakonai%20pdfs/Wakonai.pdf|format=PDF|title=Citrus wakonai P.I. Forst & M.W. Sm. (Rutaceae), a new species from Goodenough Island, Papua New Guinea|author1=Paul I. Forster|author2=Malcolm W. Smith|website=Homecitrusgrowers.co.uk|access-date=30 March 2022}} grows on the south coast of the Papuan Peninsula near Alotau{{cite web|url=http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australianpngnativecitrus/citruswakonai.html|title=Citrus wakonai|author=Mike Saalfeld|website=Homecitrusgrowers.co.uk}} [http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australianpngnativecitrus/The_Quest_for_Wakonai19.html (pictures)].
- Citrus wakonai (also locally called kakamadu) has been reported from Goodenough Island.{{cite web|url=http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australianpngnativecitrus/The_Quest_for_Wakonai19.html|title=The_Quest_for_Wakonai page19|author=Mike Saalfeld|website=Homecitrusgrowers.co.uk}}
- Citrus wintersii, also known as Citrus papuana (Brown River finger lime){{cite web|url=http://citruspages.free.fr/australian.html#wintersii|title=Citrus Pages / Native Australian varieties|author1=Jorma Koskinen|author2=Sylvain Jousse|website=Citruspages.free.fr}} has, as the name suggests, a small, thin fruit, pointed at both ends ([http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australianpngnativecitrus/The_Quest_for_Wakonai4.html pictures], [http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australiannativecitrus/microcitruspapuana.html more pictures]). It grows near Port Moresby.{{cite web|url=http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australiannativecitrus/microcitruspapuana.html|title=Microcitrus papuana|website=Homecitrusgrowers.co.uk}}
- 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.{{cite thesis |title=Organización de la diversidad genética de los cítricos |year=2013|author=Andrés García Lor| url=https://riunet.upv.es/bitstream/handle/10251/31518/Versión3.Tesis%20Andrés%20García-Lor.pdf |pages=79 }}
- Clymenia platypoda
- Clymenia polyandra has a lemon-sized round fruit, pointed at one end [http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australianpngnativecitrus/The_Quest_for_Wakonai10.html (pictures)].
Citrus species in Papua New Guinea have not been extensively studied, so the true number of species is unknown.
Identification
An [http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/73236/Tel7Mab333.pdf identification key] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002183628/http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/73236/Tel7Mab333.pdf |date=2009-10-02 }} (p. 6 or 338) exists for the known Australian limes (not including species from Papua New Guinea). The leaves of some species broaden dramatically with age.{{cite web|url=http://www.saalfelds.freeserve.co.uk/microcitrusleaves.htm |title=microcitrus – mature and juvenile leaf forms |work=freeserve.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924093129/http://www.saalfelds.freeserve.co.uk/microcitrusleaves.htm |archive-date=2015-09-24 }}