Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Citrus aurantiifolia - Lime
Edible Portion: Fruit, Herb, Spice, Leaves - Flavouring
A small much branched evergreen tree. It grows up to 5-6 m tall with short sharp spines. It spreads to 3 m across. The leaves are small and dark green. There are narrow wings on the leaf stalk. The leaf blade is about 5 cm long by 3 cm wide and oval. They have a sweet smell when crushed. There is a thorn at the base of each leaf. (Thorn free kinds are known). The flowers are yellowish white. They are 2.5 cm across and have 5 petals. The flowers are produced in the leaf axils or at the ends of branches. The fruit is small, round 3-4 cm across and become pale orange to yellow when ripe. They are thin skinned. The flesh of the fruit is green. West Indian limes with larger, better fruit also occur. There are several named cultivated varieties.