Author Topic: What citrus tree is this?  (Read 7494 times)

Vlk

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What citrus tree is this?
« on: March 19, 2013, 02:17:14 PM »
Hi there!

I've been growing this citrus tree for many years. Me and my grandmother planted it from seed when I was about 2 years old and it grew into a very nice tree since then. However, I wasn't able to identify for sure which kind of citrus tree it is exactly. I always thought it is a lemon tree, since the seed was from a lemon. But my friend told me there is no way that it is a lemon tree, according to its specific leaves. The tree hasn't been fruiting so far, but I already grafted him, and the budwood was accepted by the tree, so I hope I will see its fruit in the near future. :-)
However, could you please help me to identify this citrus tree? It has very large thorns/spikes I haven't seen on any citrus trees before. The longest one I found was about 5 cm long. According to my friend, its leaves shows that it could be either grapefruit or pomelo.

I will be glad for any answers, thank you! :-)













« Last Edit: March 19, 2013, 02:19:16 PM by Vlk »
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HMHausman

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2013, 05:46:34 PM »
I have seen seedling lemon trees with those sized thorns and those shaped leaves.  I would assume it will be a lemon of some type.  How old is the tree? I assume that it has never fruited or you wouldn't be asking what it was.
Harry
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Vlk

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2013, 05:50:28 PM »
I have seen seedling lemon trees with those sized thorns and those shaped leaves.  I would assume it will be a lemon of some type.  How old is the tree? I assume that it has never fruited or you wouldn't be asking what it was.
Thank you for reply! Yes, it has never fruited before. So you think it could be a lemon tree after all?
The tree is 19 years old. :-)
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HMHausman

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2013, 06:14:44 PM »
Yes.  I have planted out seeds and gotten some horrific thorned seedlings.  Here's what the Julia Morton Book has to say about lemon (with emphasis provided in bold):

Description

The true lemon tree reaches 10 to 20 ft (3-6 m) in height and usually has sharp thorns on the twigs. The alternate leaves, reddish when young, become dark-green above, light-green below; are oblong, elliptic or long-ovate, 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 in (6.25-11.25 cm) long, finely toothed, with slender wings on the petioles. The mildly fragrant flowers may be solitary or there may be 2 or more clustered in the leaf axils. Buds are reddish; the opened flowers have 4 or 5 petals 3/4 in (2 cm) long, white on the upper surface (inside), purplish beneath (outside), and 20-40 more or less united stamens with yellow anthers. The fruit is oval with a nipple-like protuberance at the apex; 2 3/4 to 4 3/4 in (7 -12 cm) long; the peel is usually light-yellow though some lemons are variegated with longitudinal stripes of green and yellow or white; it is aromatic, dotted with oil glands; 1/4 to 3/8 in (6-10 mm) thick; pulp is pale-yellow, in 8 to 10 segments, juicy, acid. Some fruits are seedless, most have a few seeds, elliptic or ovate, pointed, smooth, 3/8 in (9.5 mm) long, white inside.


Harry
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jez251

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2013, 06:40:28 PM »
It could be a sour orange tree. Mine is about 6-7 years old, has never fruited and has vicious thorns:



Jaime



HMHausman

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2013, 07:45:29 PM »
It could be a sour orange tree. Mine is about 6-7 years old, has never fruited and has vicious thorns:Jaime

Yes, I cannot exclude sour orange as a possible ID either.  But if his grandmother planted it, and he thinks it was from a lemon, I would go with lemon until shown otherwise
Harry
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Vlk

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2013, 08:31:12 PM »
Thank you for interesting facts! My friend explained that there is no way it could be a lemon, as long as there are these small "pre-leaves" just before the main leaf. He claimed that it is typical sign of grapefruit or pomelo tree. He also said that thorns are usually typical for pomelo or grapefruit. Many pictures of lemon leafs supports his idea. However, maybe it can be some "wild" and uncultivated sign of a lemon. Especially if you say you have lemon trees which has these long thorns and such shaped leaves, HMHausman.
The tree grew up from a lemon seed.
By the way, that sour orange tree looks very very similar to my tree.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2013, 08:34:06 PM by Vlk »
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Vlk

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2013, 05:59:42 PM »

usually has sharp thorns on the twigs, with slender wings on the petioles.
You are right, that actually points to my tree. There is other thing - the tree handles higher temperatures during winter, as it it is placed inside and it was always in a good shape, although the temperature was over the recommended value. My friend said that would point to a grapefruit tree as well. He asked me to reasure, if the seed was really from lemon, that memory can be misleading, buy I am very sure it was. :-)
Anyway, thank you very much for helping me out with investigation. :-) I guess it is a lemon tree after all. When the fruit will set, I will post some images just for fun. :-) I am curious what will come out (apart from red grapefruit which I grafted on the tree). :-))
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Vlk

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2013, 06:00:05 PM »
P.S.: My grandmother was also puzzled hearing it might be a grapefruit after all - she started to doubt her memories. :-) Anyway, thanks again HMHausman. :-)
« Last Edit: March 20, 2013, 06:02:42 PM by Vlk »
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bp2k8

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2013, 12:31:10 AM »
hey vic.  i have almost an exact same tree as this

mine is  a ponderosa lemon...
its like a more old school lemon tree  more close to wild and nature...  its almost like a CINTRON  but happens to have lemon taste :)

if not a lemon taste look into cintron and native citrus.   its native to central america but also middle east like israel etc.   hope this helps

Vlk

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2013, 08:27:34 AM »
hey vic.  i have almost an exact same tree as this

mine is  a ponderosa lemon...
its like a more old school lemon tree  more close to wild and nature...  its almost like a CINTRON  but happens to have lemon taste :)

if not a lemon taste look into cintron and native citrus.   its native to central america but also middle east like israel etc.   hope this helps
Hi! Thank you for your reply! :-)
I am affraid that it is not ponderosa lemon. I read some descriptions and although it has thorns, it doesn't have slender wings that large, if any. Also, the new grown leaves or twigs are not reddish or purple, as mentioned in all descriptions. But thank you very much for trying to help! :-)
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nhirsch

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Re: What citrus tree is this?
« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2017, 07:18:30 PM »
Hi there!

I've been growing this citrus tree for many years. Me and my grandmother planted it from seed when I was about 2 years old and it grew into a very nice tree since then. However, I wasn't able to identify for sure which kind of citrus tree it is exactly. I always thought it is a lemon tree, since the seed was from a lemon. But my friend told me there is no way that it is a lemon tree, according to its specific leaves. The tree hasn't been fruiting so far, but I already grafted him, and the budwood was accepted by the tree, so I hope I will see its fruit in the near future. :-)
However, could you please help me to identify this citrus tree? It has very large thorns/spikes I haven't seen on any citrus trees before. The longest one I found was about 5 cm long. According to my friend, its leaves shows that it could be either grapefruit or pomelo.

I will be glad for any answers, thank you! :-)


Looks like a Pomelo (giant grapefruit) tree.   I have similar that is Pomelo and it is only 2 years old so no fruit yet.  Hope I get some!