102 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



necessary for the purposes of the present volume to deal in 

 much detail with the cultural and industrial methods used in 

 the production of these familiar fruits. Citrus fruits are native 

 of tropical Asia and Malaya. These fruits show such a wide 

 variety of form, structure, flavor, and other characters that 

 a brief reference to some of the distinguishing features of the 

 different groups of citrus fruits may be desirable. 



The lemon (Citrus limonia) is a small tree with short stout 

 thorns and with leaf stems sometimes narrowly margined. The 

 flowers are rather large, being pure white above and crimson 

 beneath. The fruit is oval, 3 to 5 inches long, and 2 to 3 inches 

 in diameter. The favorite varieties of lemon in California 

 are Lisbon, Villa Franca, and Genoa. The rough-skinned 

 lemon and numerous other varieties are grown in tropical 

 countries. 



The lime (C. aurantifolia) is a rather small tree with sharp 

 thorns and small leaves with winged petioles. The flowers are 

 small and white and the fruit is nearly round, i to 2j^ inches in 

 diameter. The lime is grown extensively in the West Indies 

 and Central America and also to a less extent in Florida, Cali- 

 fornia, and in the eastern Tropics and Mediterranean regions. 

 The favorite varieties of lime are Mexican, Tahiti (seedless), 

 Sweet, Kusaie, etc. 



The grapefruit (C. grandis), also known as pomelo and 

 shaddock, is a larger tree which is spineless, or furnished with 

 flexible spines, and has glossy oval leaves and large white 

 flowers. The fruit is an oblate spheroid, 4 to 6 inches in diam- 

 eter or in some forms of shaddock which occur in Hawaii and 

 the Pacific Islands the fruit may reach a diameter of 8 to 12 

 inches with a very thick rind. The supply of grapefruit on 

 the United States markets comes largely from Florida and 

 Porto Rico. 



The common or sweet orange (C sinensis) is a small tree 

 without spines or with slender flexible spines with narrow 

 wings upon the leaf petioles and with pure white flowers. The 



