Key lime (Citrus aurantiifolia)

Key lime (Citrus × aurantiifolia) is a species in the Rutaceae family. It is a small tree or shrub that can reach a height of up to 5 meters, featuring numerous branches that often emerge from the lower part of the trunk. Its leaves are ovate and measure 2.5–9 cm in length. The flowers are 2.5 cm in diameter, yellowish-white with a bright purple tinge along the edges.

The fruit is round, 3–6 cm in diameter—sometimes with a small nipple-like projection at the tip—and greenish-yellow in color. The rind is very thin and studded with oil glands, while the interior consists of segments filled with greenish-yellow, acidic, juicy, and fragrant pulp vesicles. The seeds are small, firm, ovate, pale, and smooth, containing a white embryo.

The fruit is typically harvested while still green, though it turns yellow upon ripening. Contact with the plant's skin can cause phytophotodermatitis. The fruit contains chemical compounds used for medicinal purposes, and its essential oil serves as an antibacterial agent.

A decoction of the fruit rind mixed with water is used to treat tonsillitis. The fruit juice helps alleviate coughing fits and thins mucus in the throat. An oil extract derived from the rind contains kaempferol and flavonoids with decongestant properties; it is frequently used in inhalers, balms, and steam-based remedies.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Aurantioideae
Genus: Citrus L. in Sp. Pl.: 782 (1753)
Species: Citrus × aurantiifolia (Christm.) Swingle in J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 3: 465 (1913)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Citrus medica f. aurantiifolium (Christm.) M.Hiroe in Forest Pl. Hist. Jap. Islands 1: 219 (1974)
Limonia × aurantiifolia Christm. in Vollst. Pflanzensyst. 1: 618 (1777)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Aurantium × spinosissimum (G.Mey.) M.Gómez in Fl. Habanera: 205 (1897)
Citrus × acida Roxb. in Fl. Ind., ed. 1832. 3: 390 (1832)
Citrus × aurantiifolia subsp. murgetana García Lidón & al. in D.Rivera & al., Varied. Trad. Frut. Cuenca Río Segura Cat. Etnobot.: 98 (1998)
Citrus × aurantium var. lima (Lunan) Guillaumin in Agric. Prat. Pays Chauds, n.s., 14: 113 (1932)
Citrus × davaoensis (Wester) Yu.Tanaka in Syst. Pomol.: 140 (1951)
Citrus × depressa var. voangasay (Sagot & É.F.A.Raoul) H.Perrier in Fl. Madagasc. 104: 83 (1950)
Citrus × excelsa Wester in Philipp. Agric. Rev. 8: 26 (1915)
Citrus × excelsa var. davaoensis Wester (1915)
Citrus hystrix subsp. acida Engl. in H.G.A.Engler & K.A.E.Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3(4): 200 (1896)
Citrus × javanica Blume in Catalogus: 95 (1823)
Citrus × lima Lunan in Hort. Jamaic. 1: 451 (1814)
Citrus × lima Raf. in Sylva Tellur.: 143 (1838)
Citrus × limon var. abyssinica Riccob. in Boll. Reale Orto Bot. Palermo 4: 16 (1905)
Citrus × limon var. pusilla Risso in H.L.Duhamel du Monceau, Traité Arbr. Fruit., nouv. ed., 7: 78 (1819)
Citrus × limonellus Hassk. in Flora 25(2, Beibl. 3): 43 (1842)
Citrus × limonellus var. oxycarpa Hassk. (1842)
Citrus × longilimon Yu.Tanaka in Bull. Univ. Osaka Prefect., Ser. B, Agric. 9: 31 (1959)
Citrus × longispina Wester (1915)
Citrus × macrophylla Wester (1915)
Citrus madurensis var. voangasay Sagot & É.F.A.Raoul in Man. Prat. Cult. Trop.: 182 (1893)
Citrus medica var. acida (Roxb.) Brandis in Forest Fl. N.W. India: 52 (1874)
Citrus medica var. riversii Hook.f. in Bot. Mag. 11: t. 6807 (1885)
Citrus × montana (Wester) Tanaka in Stud. Citrol. 9: 8 (1939)
Citrus × nipis Michel in Traité Citronier: 44 (1816)
Citrus × nobilis var. limonellus (Hassk.) Kurz in J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 1875: 137 (1875)
Citrus × nobilis var. voangasay (Sagot & É.F.A.Raoul) Cordem. in Fl. Réunion: 373 (1895)
Citrus × notissima Blanco in Fl. Filip.: 607 (1837)
Citrus × ovata Hassk. in Flora 25(2, Beibl. 1): 42 (1842)
Citrus × papaya Hassk. in Cat. Hort. Bot. Bogor. Alt.: 218 (1844)
Citrus × pseudolimonum Wester (1915)
Citrus × spinosissima G.Mey. in Prim. Fl. Esseq.: 247 (1818)
Citrus × voangasay (Sagot & É.F.A.Raoul) Bojer in Hortus Maurit.: 49 (1837)
Citrus × webberi var. montana Wester (1915)
Limonia acidissima Houtt. in Nat. Hist. 2(2): 444 (1774)

PUBLICATIONS

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.

Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.

Balick, M. J., M. H. Nee & D.E. Atha (2000). Checklist of the vascular plants of Belize. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 85: 1-246.

Balkrishna, A. (2018). Flora of Morni Hills (Research & Possibilities): 1-581. Divya Yoga Mandir Trust.

Berendsohn, W.G., Gruber, A.K., Rodríguez Delcid, D. & Olmedo Galán, P. (2016). Nova Silva Cuscatlantica. Parte 3: Angiospermae - Familias R a Z y Gymnospermae. Englera 29(3): 1-356.

Brundu, G. & Camarda, I. (2013). The Flora of Chad: a checklist and brief analysis. PhytoKeys 23: 1-18.

Dassanayake (ed.) (1985). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 5: 1-476. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2024). Flora of North America North of Mexico 13: 1-566. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.

George, A.S., Orchard, A.E. & Hewson, H.J. (eds.) (1993). Oceanic islands 2. Flora of Australia 50: 1-606. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Grierson, A.J.C. & Long, D.G. (2001). Flora of Bhutan 2: 1-1675. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Hammel, B.E., Grayum, M.H., Herrera, C. & Zamora, N. (eds.) (2014). Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 7: 1-840. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Hedberg, I. & Edwards, S. (eds.) (1989 publ. 1990). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea 3: 1-659. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia & The Department of Systematic Botany, Upps.

Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.

Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.

Jaramillo Díaz, P. & Guézou, A. (2017). CDF Checklist of Galapagos Vascular Plants - FCD Lista de especies de Plantas Vasculares de Galápagos http://www.darwinfoundation.org/datazone/checklists/vascular-plants.

Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.

Jørgensen, P.M., Nee, M.H. & Beck., S.G. (eds.) (2013). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127: 1-1741. Missouri Botanical Garden.

Kokwaro, J.O. (1982). Flora of Tropical East Africa, Rutaceae: 1-52.

Lê, T.C. (2003). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 2: 1-1203. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.

Mabberley, D.J. (2022). A classification for edible citrus: an update, with a note on Murraya (Rutaceae). Telopea 25: 271-284.

MacKee, H.S. (1994). Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie, ed. 2: 1-164. Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris.

Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.

Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Smith, A.C. (1985). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 3: 1-758. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai.

Sykes, W.R. (1970). Contributions to the flora of Niue. Bulletin, New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research 200: 1-321.

Sykes, W.R. (2016). Flora of the Cook Islands: 1-973. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii.

Thaman, R.R. & Tye, A. (2015). Flora of Kiritimari (Christmass) atoll, Northern Line islands, Republic of Kiribati. Atoll Research Bulletin 608: 1-73.

Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2008). Flora of China 11: 1-622. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

Yamaji, H., Kondo, K., Kuniga, T., Nesumi, H., Yoshida, T., Hashimoto, K. & Takeda, O. (2013). Origin of cultivated Citrus (Rutaceae) documented by the contents of internal transcribed spacer sequences (ITS) in nuclear ribosomal DNA. The Journal of Japanese Botany 88: 222-238.

VERNACULAR NAME

Aceh: Kelangsa
Arabic ليمون بلدي
Armenian: Լայմ
Bali: Lemo
Bengali: লেবু Lebu
Bima: Dongaceta
Catalan: Llimona àcida
Chinese (simplified): 墨西哥莱檬 - 来檬
Chinese (traditional): 墨西哥萊姆 - 墨西哥萊檬 - 萊檬
Dagbani: Nyomsili
Danish: Lime
Dutch: Limoen
English: Key lime, Lime, Common lime, Sour lime
Esperanto: Limeujo
Estonian: Hapu laimipuu
Filipino: Dayap
Finnish: Limetti
Flores: Mudutelong
French: Citron vert
Galician: Limeira
Georgian: ლაიმი
German: Echte Limette, Saure Limette
Hebrew: קי ליים
Hindi: कागजी-नींबू - नींबू Kaghzi-nimbu, Nimbu
Hungarian: Lime
Icelandic: Límóna
Indonesia: Jeruk nipis, Jeruk mipis, Jeruk pecel, Jeruk limau, Jeruk lime, Jeruk sambal
Italian: Lime, Lima, Limetta
Japanese: ライム - メキシカンライム
Java: Jeruk pecel, Jeruk nipis
Korean: 키라임
Lithuanian: Rūgščiavaisis citrinmedis
Lower Sorbian: Limeta
Madura: Jherruk palappa
Malayalam: വടുകപ്പുളി നാരകം
Malaysia: Limau, Limau nipis, Limau asam
Manipuri: Champra
Marathi: Ambatanimbu, Limbu, Mavalanga
Minankabau: Asam kapeh
Mizo: Serte
Mon: ပၞဴ
Nepali: ज्यामिर
Northern Frisian: Echt Limet
Nusa Tenggara: Jeruk alit
Persian: لیموی کی
Polish: Lima, Limeta kwaśna, Limetka, Limonka
Portuguese: Limão, Lima comum, Limão-comum, Limão-galego, Limão-gigante
Punjabi: ਕਾਗਜ਼ੀ ਨਿੰਬੂ
Romanian: Limetă
Russian: Лайм
Sanskrit: Matulunga, Nimbukah
Slovak: Citrónovník pomarančový
Spanish: Lima ácida, Limón criollo
Sunda: Jeruk mipis
Swahili: Mndimu
Tagalog: Dayap
Tamil: சம்பலம் - சம்பிரம் Champalam, Champiram
Telugu: Nimma
Thai: มะนาว
Tongan: Laimi
Turkish: Misket Limonu
Ukrainian: Лайм
Upper Sorbian: Limeta
Urdu: لیمو Limu
Vietnam: Chanh vo mong, Chanh ta

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
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