Australian Red Center/Blood Lime

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I know a few of us have this tree and I bought mine from Logee's last year and this past winter it bloomed, and gave me a bunch of fruit (15 initially) this year. This lime was bred in Australia as a cross between a red finger lime (Citrus australasica var. sanguinea) and what was a chance seedling in Australia they subsequently named an Ellendale mandarin.

Well it is getting close to ripening and as I understand, the color sometimes depends on the growing conditions, but as I was moving it, one of the fruit that is slowly turning, fell off on its own.

This is what the little guy looks like today (the fruit have gone from mostly olive green to this yellow-orange color) -

The fruit that fell off on Thanksgiving day (olive greenish but with some reddish color) -

I brought it to my sister's house to try and sliced it open -

Since it's not quite at "red ripe" stage, it wasn't yet pink inside and I don't recall seeing any seeds either... But what was remarkable about it was that it smelled like a sweet mandarin (a mandarin/orange hybrid is a parent), it is very juicy, and trying a few of the vesicles yielded a nice lime/sour flavor - particularly if you popped a vesicle in your mouth. My BIL happened to have been pouring a cup of limeade when I sliced it open and I asked him to try it. Not only did he take a little taste, he squeezed some of a sliced 1/2 into his limeade and then plopped the rest of the half into his cup and walked away, so sounds like a big thumbs up. LOL From what I gather too, the skin is edible (I guess like a kumquat).

So I can definitely see using these in recipes that use limes - which includes many Mexican, Indian, Thai, & Indonesian dishes. I did discover a couple recipes specifically for it including a delicious-looking scallops dish with hazelnut brown butter and grilled red center limes.

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Comments (3)

Laura LaRosa (7b)
7 years ago
Mine have never been red on the inside either. I have tons of those little buggers on my tree now...any other ideas for uses? I’m glad you have some now :)
jenny_in_se_pa thanked Laura LaRosa (7b)
nanzjade z5 MA
7 years ago
Jenny, your tree is looking really good and full of fruit! I am glad you made this thread. I'm intrigued by this Australian Red Lime and have been tempted to buy one but since I'm rather new to growing citrus, I don't feel ready for this expensive lime plus window space for winter is limited.

That dish with the scallop with hazelnuts sounds amazing! I just googled and believe I found it, the scallops were presented in their shells. Hopefully someday I'll get to grow and/or taste some. I'd try the red lime in a margarita, guacamole, a white flaky fish and shrimp. Heck, all together that sounds like a good dinner, well at least to me!
jenny_in_se_pa thanked nanzjade z5 MA
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jenny_in_se_pa
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Laura (and Nancy) - I bookmarked a couple recipes as I run into them -

Seared scallops

Blood lime marmalade

Lemon and blood lime marmalade

Blood lime creme brulee

Blood lime and finger lime curd

Also a couple that call for finger limes but I expect you an use these limes too -

Oysters with charred finger limes

Panamanian ceviche with finger lime

I expect you can also just use it where you would use limes. I did see a cool suggestion to use a garlic press as a good way to juice them (halves) since they are so small and the hand-held presses usually have inserts for different sized holes, they should fit perfectly in one and you could either just juice or juice and maybe include some pulp depending on the insert.

Nancy -- the one that I got from Logee's, despite being the "bigger" 4" size, was still small when I got it and not like the larger ones that they offer overseas and the rootstock is flying dragon so it has stayed relatively "small" - mine is still in the 8" pot that I originally put it in.

This was it when I first got it during the summer of 2017 (the little black plastic-wrapped pot) -

For the size, it has really been productive! Plus the blooms start out a dark pink, open as white, and have a nice rose scent (not citrusy at all). It reminds me of a cotoneaster the way the blooms go up and down the branches. the new foliage starts off as a dark wine so it is ornamental too.

It was Laura's 2016/2017 pics of hers that enabled me to buy one as the habit is cascading - at least the way this was grafted. It does have some needle-like thorns but so far I haven't yet been impaled by them.

The other thing that I had read about them is that they naturally grow "in the understory" so they don't require the same amount of sun as other citrus, which was fine with me because I have so many other plants competing for optimum sun on my small patio (not just citrus). I had it facing N/NW but it did get about 3 - 4 hours of overhead sun (mostly morning). Plus it was recommended not to over-fertilize it so I basically only fertilized every other time that I fertilized my other citrus.

I haven't pruned it yet but am considering doing so just to narrow its profile and maybe get it to go a little more upright - but will probably do so after I harvest the fruit.