Plant notes: finger lime
Published in
4 min readOct 9, 2022
Finger lime is a tasty and citrusy small tree for the home and community garden as well as for the commercial orchard.
Common name
Finger lime
Botanic name
Citrus australasica (previously Microcitrus australasica)
Family
Rutaceae
Growth form
- medium to large shrub or small tree of four to five metres in height and three to four metres spread
- green fruit 30–120mm long filled with tiny pink or cream beads of juice
- white flowers 10 to 14mm diameter
- perennial
- small, thick leaves
- spines along branches.
Centre of diversity
Australia.
Natural habitat
- subtropical lowland rainforest understorey of SE Queensland and Northern NSW growing in a variety of soils.
Useful part
- the green-yellow fruit.
Uses
- food, edible raw — fresh, juicy vesicles give the sensation of a burst of tangy flavour when chewed
- make into garnish, jams
- grown commercially following emergence of gourmet bushfood market.
Ethnobotanical uses
- used by Aboriginal people
- named ‘Gulalung’ in Bundjalung language of Northern NSW, its centre of diversity.
Reproduction
- from seed or cutting
- seedlings reported to take a minimum of five years to reach maturity
- commercially available grafted onto citrus rootstock and cross-bred with other citrus species
- hybrid cultivars produce fruit in a variety of colors
- does not appear to attract fruit fly
- may require pest management measures in cultivation.
Cultivation
- grows from tropical to temperate climates
- prefer soil around pH6
- slow growing
- grows in full sun or dappled shade
- well-drained soils
- reported to tolerate light frost but young plants require frost protection
- susceptible to the usual range of citrus pests and diseases including citrus gall wasp (Bruchophagus fellis) that can reduce yield and vigour.
Uses in landscaping
- growth form makes finger lime suitable for planting in home gardens and in smaller community gardens
- plant as a food source
- plant as a component of mixed orchard
- understory to taller trees in multi-level orchard or food forest
- plant as component of Australian bushfood botanical collection
- in cooler climates, plant on northward-facing (sunward) site.
Notes
The finger limes in the photo are growing near Bellingen in subtropical northern NSW.
PHOTO: Russ Grayson (www.pacific-edge.info).
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