Millsweet Limetta Budwood

Citrus limetta.

Citrus limetta.

Fruit medium-sized, depressed subglobose, commonly ribbed; base rounded or somewhat flattened; apex strongly flattened with broad and deep areolar furrow surrounding a prominent nipple.  Rind thin, moderately pitted with sunken oil glands; somewhat bumpy; adherent; color light yellowish-orange.  Segments about 11; axis medium in size and open.  Flesh color pale yellow; juicy; very sour and aromatic.  Moderately seedy, moderately polyembryonic, and chalazal spot purple.

Tree vigorous, large, upright-spreading and open, lightly spiny, and highly productive; leaves lemon-like, but more oval, less sharp-pointed, and usually somewhat cupped at upper end.  Flowers purple in the bud and new growth purple-tinted.  Flowers somewhat throughout the year but mainly in spring.

Rootstocks of accession: Yuma Ponderosa lemon.

Season of ripeness at Riverside, California: Flowers and sets fruit throughout the yearMillsweet lemon is a limetta of very low acidity.  Although strongly resembling the lemons, the limettas have distinctive characteristics that set them apart from the true lemons. The tree itself grows as vigorously as the common lemon, with a similar form, but the leaves are more oval, round-pointed, and cupped than the typical lemon leaf. The new growth leaves and blossoms are faintly purple. The fruit is medium-sized, round with a distinctively flattened blossom end.  The nipple is prominent and surrounded by a deep areolar furrow.  The rind is slightly bumpy, pitted with sunken oil glands, and is yellowish-orange at maturity.  The flesh is pale yellow, low-seeded, and low in acidity, giving the juice a sweet taste.  Millsweet flowers and sets fruit throughout the year, but the main flowering season is in the spring.  The fruits hold on the tree well. 

Other limettas are Limonette de Marrakech, which is highly acidic, and Mediterranean Sweet Limetta, which is an acidless form.  Externally, the fruits are indistinguishable, and the trees are also similar, except that the new growth and flowers of Mediterranean Sweet Limetta are not tinged with purple.

Fruit virtually indistinguishable from Marrakech limonette except low in acidity and hence tastes sweet and may average somewhat smaller.

Tree likewise indistinguishable, but perhaps somewhat less vigorous.

Rootstocks of accession: Carrizo citrange, C-35 citrange.

Season of ripeness at Riverside, California: Year-round.

Prepared by the Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection at The University of California Riverside.