''Citrus glauca'', commonly known as the desert lime, is a thorny shrub or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

native to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

.Burkill, Isaac Henry. 1932. Gardens' Bulletin, Straits Settlements 5 (Index): 3. ''Citrus glauca''.Citrus pages, Native Australian Citrus, ''Citrus glauca''
The 1889 book ''The Useful Native Plants of Australia'' records the common names native kumquat and desert lemon.

Taxonomy

Under the Swingle system, the desert lime was classified in the genus ''Eremocitrus'', a close relative of the genus ''

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

''. More recent taxonomy considers all the Australian limes to be included in the genus ''Citrus'', and most authorities treat the desert lime this way. ''Citrus glauca'' is one of the most resilient ''Citrus'' species, and is comparatively heat,

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

, and cold tolerant. Hence the species is potentially important for ''Citrus''

breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...

programs, and readily hybridises with many common ''Citrus'' species.

Description

A shrub or small tree to , it has several unusual characteristics. It is cold, heat, drought and salinity tolerant and considered to be evergreen. If the rains should fail, it will shed its leaves and survive by the green bark on its branches. It will set fruit almost immediately after flowering and is the earliest citrus to do so. Fruit is small and variable and depends on current climatic conditions and genetic make-up. Thorns appear on low-growing branches to prevent grazing by rabbits, kangaroos, cattle, etc., but cease on branches above the grazing level. The fruit is globular, and about half-an-inch in diameter. The limes have an intense piquant flavour, and years of good rainfall produce an abundance of fruit.

Economic uses

The desert lime fruit is a highly prized

bushfood Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or fungi used for culinary or medicinal ...

. Traditionally, it is wild-harvested from surviving bushland areas, where it is relatively common. However, ''C. glauca'' has also been extensively cleared from some areas due to the ongoing conversion of the wild bush into agricultural fields.Cherikoff, Vic, ''The Bushfood Handbook'', .Low, Tim, ''Wild Food Plants of Australia'', . The fruit are used in a range of products, including marmalades, beverages, and succade. It has a strong lime-like flavour. The fruit is beginning to be domesticated. Commercial cultivation of this fruit is beginning to reduce the reliance on wild-harvested product.

Cultivar

CSIRO ScienceImage 3400 The Australian Outback Lime

The Australian Outback lime was selected by

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

scientists from the regular desert lime. It is characterised by its upright habit, relatively large, flavoursome fruit, high yield, uniform ripening time, lack of thorns, and suitability for mechanical harvesting. The Australian Outback lime was cultivated at the former CSIRO Plant Industry site at Merbein, Victoria by Steve Sykes.

Hybrids

The eremolemon is thought to be a natural true-breeding hybrid between ''Citrus glauca'' and '' Citrus meyeri''. It grows quickly and tolerates saline soil. ''

'' plants hybridise readily, other hybrids include eremoranges, eremoradias (hybrid with a sour orange) and citrangeremos (hybrid with a citrange).

Notes

References

* Bruneteau, Jean-Paul, ''Tukka, Real Australian Food'', . * Cherikoff, Vic, ''The Dining Downunder Cookbook'', .

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q50839729, from2=Q144618 Australian cuisine Bushfood glauca Crops originating from Australia Desert fruits Drought-tolerant trees Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Sapindales of Australia Trees of Australia glauca