THE LEMON IN CALIFORNIA. 165 



THE LEMON. 



Citrus medica limonum, Risso. 



i>'E'ET>'Ll'SGS. —ITypocotyl becoming woody, erect, terete, finely pubescent, 

 wiry, pale green. 2.3-2.9 cm. long. 



Coti/ledons two, rarely three, mostly alternate, tlesby, oblong, obtuse, pale 

 green, finely pubescent, sessile or subsessile, somewhat notched at the base. 



Stem woodj-, erect, terete, finely pubescent, wiry; first internode variable, 

 1.6 - 2.3 cm. long ; second, 2 mm. ; third, .3 mm. ; fourth, 7.5 mm. 



Leaves compound, cauline, alternate, exstipulate, petiolate, glabrous, deep 

 green, shining, pubescent on the nerves beneath when young, permeated 

 with translucent glands, doubly crenulate, emarginate; petioles subpu- 

 bescent, winged, [sometimes wingless,] with a prominent midrib, and taper- 

 ing toward the base. 



Xos. 1 and 2 uuifoliate, frequently also Nos. 3 and 4. All alternate at 

 greater or less distances from each other, or in pairs, or all four verticillate, 

 ovate, obtuse, emarginate, articulated at the toji of their petioles, or the 

 lowest pair articulate at the base only. 



Xos. 3 and i frequently digitately trifoliate, the terminal leaflet being 

 lanceolate-elliptic, attenuate at the base ; the lateral leaflets arise by segmen- 

 tation from the terminal one. 



Xo. 4. In some instances five-foliolate; the rachis between the basal and 

 next pair of leaflets winged and tapering toward the base in the same way as 

 the primary petiole ; leaflets sessile, lanceolate-elliptic, emarginate, minutely 

 and doubly crenulate, smaller than the leaflets of unfoliate leaves.— Sm 

 JoH>- LuEBOCK, " Contributions to our Knowledge of Seedlings," Vol. I, 1892. 



The flower of the lemon is of medium size, with a reddish 

 tint outside, but white within. Fruit pale j'ellow, generally 

 oval, ending in a nipple-like point, seldom round or pyriform. 

 The skin is smooth, about the thickness of that of the orange, 

 becoming greatly reduced, thin, pliable, and leathery to the 

 touch after being stored away, styled "curing." 



The lemon is not so hardy a tree as the orange and is more 

 susceptible to frost. While this is true, it is also true that 

 it does not require so high a temperature to bring out its best 

 qualities, which it will attain on the coast, where the orange is 

 inferior. The lemon is a prolific tree, bearing more fruit than 

 the orange and requiring more water; but the treatment of the 

 tree in the matter of planting, cultivating, etc., except pruning, 

 is the same as that required by the orange, and the rules laid 

 down for the latter apply equally to the former. 



