Australian lime facts for kids

The Australian Outback Lime, a type of plant variety of the desert lime (C. glauca)

Australian limes are unique types of citrus plants. They are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Long ago, these plants were known by different scientific names, like Microcitrus and Eremocitrus. Indigenous Australians have used them as food for a very long time. Early settlers also used them. Today, Australian limes are popular in modern Australian cooking. You can find them in foods like marmalade and sauces.

Types of Australian Limes

Natural Species from Australia

These are lime species that grow naturally in the wild in Australia.

• Finger Lime (Citrus australasica): This lime grows in rainforests in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. Its fruits are long and can be yellow-green to purple.

A green Finger lime

• Round Lime or Dooja (Citrus australis): You can find this species in south-eastern Australia. It has round, green fruits.
• Desert Lime (Citrus glauca): This lime grows in the dry, inland areas of Australia. It produces small, round fruits in the summer.

A Desert lime fruit

• Mount White Lime (Citrus garrawayi): This type of lime is rare. It only grows in the Cook District of the Cape York Peninsula.
• Kakadu Lime or Humpty Doo Lime (Citrus gracilis): This lime grows in eucalyptus woodlands in the Northern Territory. Scientists first described it in 1998.
• Russell River Lime or Large-leaf Australian Wild Lime (Citrus inodora): This species is also rare. It is only found in northern Queensland.
• Maiden's Australian Wild Lime (Citrus inodora|Citrus maideniana): This might be a type of the Russell River lime.

New Varieties: Cultivars

Different types of limes: The biggest red one is a Blood Lime, the orange pear-shaped one is a Sunrise Lime, and the small green one is an Outback Lime.

In recent years, people have created new types of Australian limes. These are called cultivars. They are made by carefully breeding different lime plants.

These new varieties can be grown in gardens as pretty trees or in pots. They can also be grafted onto other citrus plants to help them grow better. Some popular cultivars include:

• Australian Outback (or Australian Desert): This cultivar was developed from several types of desert limes.
• Australian Red Centre (or Australian Blood or Blood Lime): This is a mix of a finger lime and a mandarin-lemon or mandarin-sweet orange hybrid.
• Australian Sunrise: This is a hybrid of a finger lime and a calamondin. It is pear-shaped and orange inside.
• Rainforest Pearl: This is a pink-fruited type of finger lime from Bangalow, New South Wales.
• Sunrise Lime: The exact parents of this lime are not known.
• Outback Lime: This is a specific variety of the desert lime.

Species from Papua New Guinea

Some Australian lime species also grow in Papua New Guinea. Scientists have not studied these limes as much, so there might be even more types to discover!

• Kakamadu or New Guinea Wild Lime (Citrus warburgiana): This lime grows on the south coast of the Papuan Peninsula near Alatau.
• Kakamadu (Citrus wakonai): This lime has been found on Goodenough Island.
• Brown River Finger Lime (Citrus wintersii, also known as Citrus papuana): As its name suggests, this lime has small, thin fruits that are pointed at both ends. It grows near Port Moresby.
• Clymenia Species (Clymenia sp.): These plants are originally from the Bismarck Archipelago. They are now often considered part of the citrus family.
  • Clymenia platypoda
  • Clymenia polyandra: This plant has a round fruit about the size of a lemon, with one pointed end.

Identifying Australian Limes

It can be tricky to tell some Australian lime species apart. The leaves of some species can change a lot as the plant gets older, becoming much wider.