Ancestory of the Finger lime and its close friends

Further to the previous post on the hybrid ancestry of the finger lime (Microcitrus australascia or citrus australasica if you think its paternal heritage is more important. Although its mitochondria and chloroplasts are from its maternal ancestry giving a slightly higher proportion of pure microcitrus physiology), it has now been postulated that all the other members of the Australian citrus gang are from one common ancestor which branched out from Citrus many moons ago.
Also in this group, extra to Microcitus (Mt White lime, Gympie lime etc.) and Eremocitrus (Australian desert lime) is the extremely rare and amazing Clymenia polyandra. This one off relic of citrus passed, only remains on a few small islands in a distant tropical archipelago.
Its fruit, green / yellow, shaped like a large orange, and its flesh … wait for it, has segments like a mandarin but caviar like vesicles just like a finger lime! Sweet and lacking the sour tartness which finger lime does, it makes for a tantalizing refreshingly tropical experience. But only for the tribes people of New Irelands Namatanai, the only humans lucky enough to consume it as a part of their natural dietary intake.. Clymenia polyandra.

20121116-205413.jpg

This entry was posted in Growing Finger Limes and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.