Aussie Lime

The Australian lime is a plant I believe should be as common in Australian gardens as the lemon tree. The lime is native to the wetter regions of northern NSW and southern Queensland. Although native to these areas the lime can be grown in much drier and/or cooler regions such as Perth and Melbourne.

The plant itself is a large shrub or small growing up to ~ 6m with small oval shaped dark green leaves up to 40mm long. Plants are generally slow growing and may take from 5-15 years to reach maturity. Recently Australian lime varieties have been grafted onto common citrus root stock making the lime more suitable for nursery sale and some varieties have been described as having 'vigorous growth'. The young foliage is a purple/red colour which matches the pink/purple flowers of some varieties. Prospective buyers should know that generally the stems have many sharp thorns making it slightly dangerous for children to be running around at home.

The fruit has very desirable pulp which doesn't burst when removed from the fruit like you would observe with oranges, mandarins, lemons etc. Here you can see that some varieties have been bred for their differing pulp colours, these limes are in strong demand by restaurants which use them as decoration as well as for their strong citrus flavours. Some bars use the pulp in drinks such as the Mojito for a new take on cocktail decoration. I'm sure that some of you will want a plant just by looking at this picture (I know that I do), imagine having this fruit available in your backyard.

I did manage to grab a glimpse of an Australian lime in a Hawthorn garden but unfortunately I couldn't take a picture. If you would like to get a closer look at the finger lime there are a couple of trees at the Burnley campus of Melbourne University, in the tropical section of the garden.