Giant Key (sec. Cottin 2002)
Citrus x aurantiifolia (Christm.) Swingle, pro sp. (sensu Mabberley 2004); Citrus aurantiifolia (Christm.) Swingle [=Citrus x aurantiifolia (Christm.) Swingle, pro sp.] (sensu Hodgson 1967; sensu Tanaka sec. Cottin 2002)
The Chiefland Budwood Facility (2010) provided the following notes on the cultivar (clone DPI-839-1): " Selected by Dr. H. C. Barrett (USDA) from a seedling population of diploid Key lime in 1973....Released in 1994."
Crown compact or dense, not weeping. First-year twig surface glabrous; second- or third-year twig surface striate; thorns straight; prickles absent or not persistent. Petiole glabrous, length medium; wings narrow, adjoining the blade. Leaflets one, margin crenate/crenulate, bluntly toothed or serrate/serrulate, shade leaflet blades weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades weakly conduplicate. Scent of crushed leaflets freshly lemon-like. Fruit as broad as long or longer than broad; rind green-yellow (6), yellow (7-10), or yellow-orange (11); rind texture slightly rough (4-5) or medium rough (6-7); firmness leathery; navel absent; flesh green/greenish or yellow; taste sour.
The Chiefland Budwood Facility (2010) provided the following notes on the cultivar (clone DPI-839-1): "More than twice the size of typical Key limes, fruit have true Key Lime flavor and aroma, no cross pollination needed. Season: Everbearing, multiple crops each year."
Chiefland Budwood Facility. 2010. 2010 Annual report July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010. Bureau of Citrus Budwood Registration, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Winter Haven.
Cottin, R. 2002. Citrus of the World: A citrus directory. Version 2.0. France: SRA INRA-CIRAD.
Hodgson, R.W. 1967. Horticultural varieties of Citrus. In: Reuther, W., H.J. Webber, and L.D. Batchelor (eds.). The Citrus industry, rev. University of California Press. http://lib.ucr.edu/agnic/webber/Vol1/Chapter4.html.
Mabberley, D.J. 2004. Citrus (Rutaceae): A review of recent advances in etymology, systematics and medical applications. Blumea 49: 481–498.
Search for this cultivar in NCBI Entrez
Additional information on this cultivar at University of California: Riverside Citrus Variety Collection
Citrus ID Edition 2
October, 2011
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