Key limes are not green and not shiny. They are small, leathery-skinned, and yellow on the outside and very sour and acrid to the taste, nothing like a regular lime:

So I don't know what those are, Jane, but not key limes.

ETA Another characteristic of key limes is that they are just full of seeds, usually.

Regular lime ?

A Key Lime, which is also called a Mexican Lime or West Indian Lime, is pretty much the common lime in the world. They were the most common in the US until a storm wiped out most of the Florida trees. The second picture of the limes in the basket looks exactly like a key lime.

The Persian Lime, which is also called a Bearss Lime, is the one more commonly seen in stores today in the US.

A Key Lime has a more "lime" taste to the juice. It also has a very unique "lime" taste to the rind, which is important for Key Lime Pie.

Both are commonly picked when green and not ripe. Most key limes that hit the stores will have some green turning to yellow, where Bearss are typically still completely green. They will both become yellow when ripe.

The leaves look a lot like my satsuma owari.and its not uncommon for them to stay green on the outside and have a orange color or yellow in side this far south if so you picked to early.but satsuma is very sweet and get sweeter every year.young trees are not very sweet that's why they are picked off for five years and thrown out.if it is you r in for a real treat in a few year's

which is also called a Mexican Lime or West Indian Lime,

It is closely related to those, but not exactly the same. A key lime doesn't actually taste much like a normal lime--it tastes almost like it might be poisonous because it is so bitter, and the rind is not used in true key lime pie, the original recipe for which is more like a lemon meringue pie, despite the strange green gelatin creations that are all the average person knows today.

It is possible that you have a Mexican or Creole lime, Jane, or if you are very lucky, the greenish satsuma.

Glenn really?!? Satsuma takes appx. 5 years before they are sweet and edible? Wow! I had NO idea...IMy owari satsuma will be 5 years this January and I've yet to eat one that is edible, Lol...I was actually thinking of digging mine up and planting a mango tree or something else since all I've done to this tree for almost 5 years is water, fertilize and treat it for CLM **sigh** so you give me hope that the several fruits on my very small dwarf tree will be sweet and edible this year, I will let you know! I think they are almost ready even though they are NOT yellow, completely green because we haven't had much cooler weather yet ;o(

But its coming...cool front is on the forecast :o)

This is the smallest most dwarf almost 5 year old satsuma I think I've ever seen lol...I think it only stands about 4.5ft.

I don't know what they are, but I don't think they're ripe.

Maybe I picked them too soon? The branches were laying on the ground and the fruit was soft. They are very sour and don't taste like a lime.

Oh, well....

Jane

Maybe a sour orange, and possibly unripe. Are you positive there's never been any color to the rind? Sour orange is often used for rootstock & when a grafted citrus tree is cut down , but the root is still viable, the rootstock may grow out to form a new plant.

I used to have a Meyer lemon & the flesh was a yellow orange when ripe, pale yellowish green when unripe, IIRC. Yours looks more orange, but I'm aware a photo on the internet/computer screen may not accurately represent in-person color.

Doesn't it have any fragrance/aroma? Oranges, lemon, limes, tangerines, satsumas, limes, etc. al have a distinct aroma - esp. in the oils of the skin. And IMPE, 'Key' or Mexican limes most decidedly have a lime aroma & flavour.

It may be a sour orange, but most of the ones I've seen have bumpy/lumpy skin.

Puglvr,5years is a minimum.back when satsuma was a big crop here in Florida that growers would pick the fruit when it was about the size of a quarter and thought right on the ground after five years they would start to test it by letting it ripen on tree then eat 1.in Japan where they r from. they pick off the fruit for 10 years before they are ready for market.I've found its 5 to 7 years old before they are ready.a mature tree is at the 60th leaf.if yours is a dwarf it's growing on a flying Dragon root stock and may take a little more time.please don't dig it up! when it does mature it will be the best you ever had.I love them,better then any other citrus.please wait for it to mature thay r pretty rare here if you do decide to dig it up I will gladly take it.

Thanks Glenn, I will definitely keep it...now that I know they have the potential to be a very good tasting mandarin. I love mandarins and tangerines, so I don't mind waiting a few more years. Thanks for all input and advise :o)

Jane, I hope you figure out what variety you have...at least you are able to use them which is always great, enjoy!

Here's another pic showing the size. The lemons are from my tree.

I wouldn't know what to use them for. I don't know what they are!!

Jane

Could they be Calamondin??

Here's what mine look like...

green...you can use them when they are green, they are native from China and the Philippines I believe. Very juicy and has lots of seeds...great on ice tea, lemonade, recipes for Chicken or Fish...

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/patiocitrus/Calamondin.html

If there were a ruler or hand in the photo, we might have a better idea of the size of those fruits.

Another possibility is a volunteer citrus from a stray fruit or seed...

I had a key lime tree I planted in 2009 at 4 ft tall. It was a hardy tree that grew fast,..was thick with branches, leaves and fruit. It was immune to the Citrus Greening that came along 4 yrs later and destroyed my 22 ft tall Ruby Red grapefruit tree,..the most delicious grapefruits I have ever eaten !

Where was I ? Oh yeah,..my Key Lime tree eventually reached a robust 11 ft tall, and had a harvest of 400 or so yellow limes it's last two years. Being a single guy, surrounded with neighbors who said " no thanks " each December when the tree harvested so many fruits,..I had to cut it down. One of my toughest chores,..but I was just being inundated ! The golf ball sized fruits ( or slightly larger ) were all a bright yellow when ripe on the tree,..so I doubt those green ones in your basket are key limes.

Just my two cents !

The golf ball sized fruits ( or slightly larger ) were all a bright yellow when ripe on the tree

Yes, those are real key limes. Interesting that they're immune to greening.

I know this thread is anout Jane's mystery tree but I want to address the satsuma comments because I beg to differ with them. Mine is two years old, and last year bore a full crop of delivious, sweet fruit.

Old post popped back up.

I gave up on identifying that tree. The fruits I left on turned bright orange so I picked them and they looked like little oranges. Cut them, full of juice. Took a taste...sour as hell! They tasted more sour than lemons.

I'll let the tree grow for a while but might take it down as the fruit isn't worth growing for.

Jane

Jane, I wonder if it's a volunteer sour orange. They usually bear fruit about the size of a small tangerine but more round.

ETA I always thought they had bumpy skin, too, but I was at the Marjorie Rawlings farm at Cross Creek last weekend and they had trees loaded with smooth sour oranges.

I haven't read all the replies, but could it be a tangerine? Those look a lot like the Dandy Tangerines. We had one in our yard when we moved in. They looked exactly like that, they turned orange and sweeter. However, they never got sweet enough for the kids so we dug it up.

Jane, judging by the size of the fruit and the fact that they turned bright orange and were very sour, I would say it is a Calamondin.

You can make a tasty marmalade with them.

Puglvr1 - your calamondin plant looks so healthy!. I don't know what happened to mine. All the leaves have yellow spots (does not look like greening). My plant looks terrible!

As a kid, we had a sour orange tree and every year we couldn't wait to make orangeade! Juice the sour oranges, and use them as you would lemons or limes to make lemon or limeade...about 1 cup juice to 1 cup sugar to taste, then water to taste...SOOOO delicious.