Sweet Lemon

Sweet lemons look very similar to regular lemons. They are roughly baseball sized or slightly smaller and have a leathery yellow rind. They are football shaped and the flesh is segmented like that of all citrus fruits. These, however, do not have the amount of acid that most lemons do and therefore can be eaten out of hand.

These are not “true” lemons which are botanically classified as Citrus limon. The sweet lemon tree is usually a lemon hybrid or a cross between two other types of citrus.

They are called sweet lemons because the fruit of these trees tastes like a lemon only less acid.

It is a small tree which may reach 8 m in height. The sweet lemon has irregular branches, and relatively smooth, brownish-grey bark.

It possesses numerous thorns which may grow to anywhere from 1.5 to 7.5 cm long. The petioles of the sweet lemon are narrowly but distinctly winged, and are 8 to 29 mm long.

It has leaflets rather than leaves, which are obovate and 5.5 to 17 cm long, 2.8 to 8 cm wide.

Flowers are white in bud and in bloom, ranging from 2 to 3 cm wide. The petals soon fall away, leaving the fruit to grow.

Growing:

Can be grown outside through the Spring and Summer months but needs frost protection (a minimum of 5°C and ideally 10°C or higher).

Sweet Lemon on the Tree

Prorogation:

The sweet lemon grows from a seed.

Interesting facts:

Sweet lemons and sweet limes are more of a description of the fruit than a classification. Sweet lemons are classified as a variety of citrus that is linked more closely with limes than lemons. The sweet lemon and sweet lime are different species, but both lime-like. They get the name sweet lemon because their skin is more yellow than green.