Citrus Fruit

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Something that has come up before is the difference between a Citron and a Lemon or a Pomelo and a Grapefruit, or even a Lime and a Lemon

Well, the Australian food scientist Dr Emma Beckett posted about this on Twitter, evidently all citrus come from just 5 ancestors, the pomelo, the citron, the kumquat, the mandarin and the padelo (a sort of proto-lime). Fascinating.

She posted a link to this National Geographic simplified, illustrated, family tree of citrus fruits

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/maga ... -genetics/

Do you grow any citrus?

How do you like to use them?

Emma’s original thread
https://twitter.com/synapse101/status/1 ... 36192?s=21

[Renee Profile]

Thank you for the very interesting article Sue.

[mistakened Profile]

Thanks for that article, Sue, the origins of all those fruits is fascinating. Of course, we grow citrus here.
Just for information citrus fruit is not good at this time of year in Cyprus, we await the new season starting in November.

Moira

[liketocook Profile]

Thanks Sue, what an informative article.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Thanks Sue, it is interesting. I had never come across the 'Buddah's Hand' before, interesting reading up in what to do with it.

I noticed also on the Twitter feed that someone had asked what on earth to do with kumquats. After buying them once only from a supermarket I have often wondered the same but have a feeling they are a fruit best bought from elsewhere, judging by other descriptions and suggested uses.

It is hard to imagine life without citrus fruits. I don't do anything terribly imaginative with them but they are certainly play a huge part of everyday sweet and savoury cuisine. A huge contributor to the acidic taste of a dish. One of the loveliest thing about warmer countries is to be able to pick them fresh. I think, if I had to choose, that my favourite is the lemon, both for appearance and taste but I love them all.

[Lokelani Profile]

What a beautiful family tree. I've never seen the Buddha's hand before! I adore all citrus & use lemon & lime in so many things, sweet & savoury. I probably use a bit of a lemon, lime or orange most days.

Last night's roast chicken had half a lemon (other half & zest already taken for something else!) quartered in the cavity. It then got mushed up in the gravy.

Orange will be squeezed tonight & half the juice drunk, the other in the pan with carrots.

Ruby grapefruit will be my afternoon snack now I've found my grapefruit knife & invested in a serrated edge grapefruit spoon.

Another thing I've learned from the food forum is to keep citrus in the fridge, it lasts so very much longer. The grapefruits are the exception as they're so bulky & seem to last for weeks anyway.

Over the years I have twice succumbed to the urge of citrus as houseplants, but they always die on me in the end, so never again! I also did the growing from a grapefruit pip one but it was very boring so I think I probably let that die!

[scullion Profile]

i thought the main use for kumquats was as an addition to a gin and tonic...

my father grew a grapefruit tree from a pip it was about seven years old when my mother convinced him that it lived in the unheated and leaky greenhouse every winter (it didn't - it lived in the dining room) he dutifully complied - and it died.
citrus seeds are very easy to germinate and are supposed to be very easy to look after - if you have the space.
a patient i had, many years ago had a conservatory full of lemon trees that she'd grown from pips that always seemed to have fruit on. my lemon tree suffered at the beginning of lockdown when i couldn't get to it to water, along with my oleander. i will treat myself to another - instead of a summer holiday!

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I have always loved grapefruit and it is a right royal pain in the a**e that my medication means I can no longer have them.

I occasionally cheat though and pretend I’ve forgotten.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I´ve currently got three different varieties of lemon, and a mandarin bush. The Mexican lime in the article is, I suppose, the most popular form of "lemon" over here; but a trip to Margarita Island will reveal a much smaller, juicier lemon over there.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Candied kumquats and kumquat marmalade used to be a speciality of Corfu, probably still are

I tried preparing them like clementines in a boozy syrup, but they were unpleasantly bitter

[Pampy Profile]

Interesting that there's no mention of the finger lime - Citrus australasica. Apparently, in the Swingle taxonomy system, it's part of the microcitrus genus, rather than citrus.
I have a finger lime and it's produced fruit for the first time this year. I also have a small orange-type plant that I bought from Lidl! There was no information provided with it but I tried one and it was very bitter. Perhaps could be used to make marmalade but I'm going freeze the fruit (they're quite small) and use them in my gin!

[Renee Profile]

Good idea Pampy! It would be a shame to waste them!

When I used to stay with friends in Florida, I used to pick grapefruit from their trees for breakfast. They were lovely and warm from the sun and smelled so fragrant. Sadly they lost their trees during a hurricane.

[mistakened Profile]

I have a finger lime and it's produced fruit for the first time this year. I also have a small orange-type plant that I bought from Lidl! There was no information provided with it but I tried one and it was very bitter. Perhaps could be used to make marmalade but I'm going freeze the fruit (they're quite small) and use them in my gin!

We watch Masterchef Australia, the contestants often use finger lime as an ingredient, much as we would a standard lime.

For the record we have an excellent crop of ordinary limes this year. They and other cirtrus trees need a lot of water

[halfateabag Profile]

I have grown from the seeds, 2 loquat trees. This was their best year ever and they now have little branches and look great either side of the new oak porch. They will overwinter in the drive thru as they did last year. They are a bit too big for the sun room these days.

We have a lime tree in the garden in Rhodes, the owner says he gets about 12 lbs of fruit per year. I am looking forward to making lime marmalade maybe next year.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Loquats aren’t citrus but members of the huge rose family, distant relatives of the Apple, pear and quince

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loquat

I think my aunt had loquat outdoors in her garden in Poole but it didn’t fruit, whether because it wasn’t self-fertile or because the fruit didn’t survive winter in Dorset

Good luck with the limes

[Rainbow Profile]

Interesting that there's no mention of the finger lime - Citrus australasica. Apparently, in the Swingle taxonomy system, it's part of the microcitrus genus, rather than citrus.
I have a finger lime and it's produced fruit for the first time this year. I also have a small orange-type plant that I bought from Lidl! There was no information provided with it but I tried one and it was very bitter. Perhaps could be used to make marmalade but I'm going freeze the fruit (they're quite small) and use them in my gin!

Finger limes are native to Australian rainforests - a bush food that has been eaten for thousands of years. The fruit has lots of vesicles inside which are full of juice - so it looks quite different to lemons etc
https://www.daleysfruit.com.au/photo/bu ... .htm#i1046

[Pampy Profile]

I think the name citrus australasica gives it away! I've used the fruit in the past but thought I would give it a go growing it - and am glad I did - saves paying the eye-watering price to buy them!

[Uschi Profile]

Thanks for the article.
I had a kaffir-lime which was killed off by scale insects. I keep meaning to buy some kaffir-limes to grow a new tree from seeds ...
For fun I simply put lemon and tangerine seeds into soil and have some small plants on the go. Alas, I forgot to mark which is which, but they are just an experiment. Will mark the new batch this winter better.

I want the kaffir limes for leaves. By the time the fruit will appear I shall be nearing pensioning age.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Article by Palisa Anderson in the Guardian on growing citrus, remember she’s in Australia
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... SApp_Other

Not a brilliant article though interesting if you actually want to grow,but I was trying to remember the Asian word (it’s Thai) that we are supposed to be learning to use in place of kaffir lime - it’s makrut and it probably is one we should learn

[scullion Profile]

this is a good place for citrus care information (in the uk).