Lemon & Lime seeds - Page 2

 

Nick wrote:


I was a bit wooly-headed when I rattled off my earlier comments and on
re-reading, see that I got the bit about thickness of rind back to
front.  The 'Tahiti'/'Persian' lime has the thicker rind. Sorry about
that - was just waking up - dyslexic thinking ;-)

West Indian limes Nick a.k.a. Key lime, Mexican Key lime, bartender's
lime etc. etc.  They may be grown in West Africa and therefore may be
dubbed that by some.  It is thought to have originated in the Far East
and was brought to the Middle East by traders at some point in distant
history. From there it was taken to the New World by the Spanish and
Portuguese.  The problem is that there are several Citrus referred to
as limes and since few sellers make any great distinction, the
confusion continues.  I am fairly positive that you are referring to
'Key lime', which seems to be prevalent in many shops due to its
prolific nature and flavour.


Bearss. is a seedless or near seedless form of the Tahiti/Persian
lime.  As you mention, it is primarily sold in the US and is rarely
available here. The similar fruits of the Tahiti lime do make an
appearance  - IIRC during early autumn for a month or so.


Assuming you mean the 'Tahiti', the fruit is less acid and if ripened
in heat (ie a hot greenhouse/climate) it can become almost too sweet
for a lime.  It is not as aromatic as the Key lime and is considered
to be a hybrid with Key lime (Citrus aurantiifolia) as one of the
parents and maybe one of the lemons as the other.  I understand it was
first developed in the Middle East (hence 'Persian') and was moved
about during the 20th. century.

Which reminds me, I'm doing a fiery chilli for dinner.  I'd better
pick a handful of limequats from the bush outside to go with it.  Now
they are excellent substitutes for Key limes provided they are not too
ripe and they don't need the heat either - I've been picking them
throughout the winter.  Unfortunately they are small, but at least you
get lots of them.  You ought to try one in your greenhouse Nick. It is
the Eustis limonella - very easy, cold tolerant and utterly reliable
even as a small plant.

 


|>
|> I was a bit wooly-headed when I rattled off my earlier comments and on
|> re-reading, see that I got the bit about thickness of rind back to
|> front.  The 'Tahiti'/'Persian' lime has the thicker rind. Sorry about
|> that - was just waking up - dyslexic thinking ;-)
|>
|> West Indian limes Nick a.k.a. Key lime, Mexican Key lime, bartender's
|> lime etc. etc.  They may be grown in West Africa and therefore may be
|> dubbed that by some.  ...  I am fairly positive that you are referring to
|> 'Key lime', which seems to be prevalent in many shops due to its
|> prolific nature and flavour.

Yes, that sounds right.  But I am ABSOLUTELY certain that the form that
is standardly available in supermarkets and shops in the UK is seedless.
Limes with seeds in are definitely rare, here and now.  They weren't
always.

|> Assuming you mean the 'Tahiti', the fruit is less acid and if ripened
|> in heat (ie a hot greenhouse/climate) it can become almost too sweet
|> for a lime.  It is not as aromatic as the Key lime and is considered
|> to be a hybrid with Key lime (Citrus aurantiifolia) as one of the
|> parents and maybe one of the lemons as the other.  I understand it was
|> first developed in the Middle East (hence 'Persian') and was moved
|> about during the 20th. century.

Yes, that fits with my assumptions - though I had got the limes the
wrong way round!  I have seen that only a couple of times in the UK and
never tried it.

|> Which reminds me, I'm doing a fiery chilli for dinner.  I'd better
|> pick a handful of limequats from the bush outside to go with it.  Now
|> they are excellent substitutes for Key limes provided they are not too
|> ripe and they don't need the heat either - I've been picking them
|> throughout the winter.  Unfortunately they are small, but at least you
|> get lots of them.  You ought to try one in your greenhouse Nick. It is
|> the Eustis limonella - very easy, cold tolerant and utterly reliable
|> even as a small plant.

Thanks.  I may well.  I have a C. hystrix, which does well but has never
flowered (grown from a fruit and used for cooking!) and an orange that
I was given.  It is happy but not exciting.  A lime would be a lot more
interesting, and that one sounds plausbile.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

 

Coming in very late, I agree UK supermarket limes don't have seeds.
I have fond memories of buying Key Limes in the Keys years ago (I'm a
native Floridian).
Just ordering a 'Tuscan lime' tree from Crocus for our house in
Derbyshire's conservatory. Hope to get some limes next year!
Doug
--
Doug Weller --
A Director and Moderator of The Hall of Ma'at http://www.hallofmaat.com
Doug's Archaeology Site: http://www.ramtops.co.uk
Amun - co-owner/co-moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Amun/
 

 


"Dave Poole"  wrote ...

Our Tahiti Lime is grown with 2 Lemon trees, an Orange tree, and Padua Lime
(fun plant) close by but not one of the 28 fruit we have harvested over the
last couple of months had a seed and I can't remember one ever having seed.
Would lend one to believe the clone/variety/hybrid is sterile.
BTW the fruit turn yellow when ripe when they also get sweeter or loose some
astringency, so you can pick to suit your requirements/taste. All the limes
in Sainsbury's ATM are Tahiti Limes (I read the label) which look exactly
like ours, like a smaller perfectly round green lemon.
Regarding warmth, oar's is outside now and will stay there unless we get a
bad cold snap, it gets treated just like all our other citrus except I put
it in the heated greenhouse in winter, min 50°F.
Together with the Lemon the Tahiti Lime is certainly worth growing.
--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

 

 


|!On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:05:54 +0100, Dave Fawthrop
|!
|!>
|!>|!Why are limes seedless and lemons not?
|!>
|!>They are different cultivars both of the citrus family.
|!
|!So they're hybrids? Have they (the limes) been specifically
|!cultivated to have no seeds? If so, why not do the same with
|!lemons?

Man has been deliberately selecting and breeding the animals and vegetables
which we eat for over 6000 years, in some cases more, so non of them are in
anything like a natural state, where species generally do not interbreed
and generally if they interbreed generally have infertile offspring.   The
difference between species, cultivars and hybrids has been thoroughly
confused by us.

|!
|!>When I last made lime marmalade the Limes had a few seeds
|!
|!Strange. I've used about 20 limes over the past month or so
|!and not one had a seed in it.

I said *cultivars* not species.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivar
Examples of cultivars ate the dozen types of potato which you can buy
easily and *many* more which the supermarkets do not stock, these vary
widely in taste cooking quality etc. etc.  
http://www.europotato.org/menu.php?

There are also many different cultivars of the orange, clematises, jaffa,
seville etc. etc. which also vary widely.
http://www.postharvest.com.au/Oranges_Cv.htm

If you buy your limes at one place, they may well have a seedless cultivar.
The plant breeders are forever working on ?improvements?  

Google found me this:
http://www.uga.edu/fruit/citrus.html

Limes. ?Key' (syn. ?Mexican', ?West Indian') and ?Tahiti' (syn. Persian)
are the major cultivars. ?Key' limes are small, round, and seedy, and turn
yellow under Mediterranean conditions. ?Tahiti' limes are larger, green,
and shaped like lemons.

Lemons. The main cultivars are 'Lisbon' (oval to round, more pronounced
stylar end furrow and point) and 'Eureka' (oval, less pronounced stylar
end). 'Meyer' is a cold hardy, larger fruited cultivar used as an
ornamental or containerized plant, and is probably a lemon hybrid.
?Femminello' and ?Verna' are the major cultivars in Italy and Spain,
respectively.
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