Classification
Regnum:
Plantae
Divisio:
Magnoliophyta
Classis:
Magnoliopsida
Ordo:
Sapindales
Familia:
Rutaceae
Genus:
Citrus
Spesies:
Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.)
Swingle
Synonym:
Citrus acida
Local name: Jeruk nipis
Habit: Shrub
Characteristic: Ovatus leaves with persistence styles
Distribution: Southeast Asia
Benefit: Medical plant
Location: Zone 2 of UPI Botanic Garden
Conservation status: Not yet rank
Description
Citrus aurantifolia is small,
densely and irregularly branched, evergreen tree, about 5 m tall; twigs armed
with short, stiff, sharp spines. Leaves alternate, elliptic to oblong-ovate,
4-8 x 2-5 cm, margin crenulate; petioles narrowly winged. Inflorescences short
axillary racemes, 1-7(-10)-flowered; flowers small, white in bud; calyx
cup-shaped, 4- to 6-lobed; petals 4-6, 8-12 mm long; stamens 20-25(-34), ovary
9-12(-15)-celled, style abruptly distinct. Fruit a globose to ovoid berry, 3-6
cm in diameter, sometimes with apical papillae, greenish-yellow; peel very
thin, very densely glandular; segments with yellow-green pulp-vesicles, very
acid, juicy and fragrant. Seeds small, plump, ovoid, pale, smooth with white
embryos (polyembryonic).
Lime is believed to have
originated in northern India and adjoining parts of Myanmar, or in northern
Malaysia. The lime is now cultivated throughout the tropics and in warm
subtropical areas.
The sour limes were probably one
of the first citrus fruits to be carried from the east by the crusaders. Arabs
carried the sour lime to North Africa and surrounding regions. It was then
transported from Palestine to Mediterranean Europe. By the
mid-13th century the small-fruited acid lime was well known in Italy and
France. Spanish and Portuguese explorers probably transported this cultivar to
the Americas during the 16th century. It was naturalized throughout
the Caribbean, Eastern Mexico, tropical South America, Central America and the
Florida keys (Mumtaz-Khan
et al. (2017)).
