Comprehensive Description
provided by North American Flora
Citrus decumana L. Syst. Nat. ed. 12. 2 : 508. 1767 A small tree sometimes attaining a height of 12 m., with smooth grayish-brown bark ; voung leaves and shoots sparsely pubescent ; petioles broadly winged ; leaflet usually elliptic to ovate, sometimes obovate, 7-15 cm. long, acutish or rounded and frequently emarginate at the apex, rounded or sometimes cuneate at the base, dark glossy green and leathery, more or less crenulate ; inflorescence cymose or the flowers sometimes solitary ; flowers 2.5^1.4 cm. broad ; calyx cup-shaped, often somewhat pubescent, large, the sepals acute ; petals oblong, rather fleshy ; berry globose or pyriform, 9-18 cm. in diameter, lemonvellow or flesh-colored, sometimes reddish, the rind usually smooth, bitter, the pulp paleyellow or reddish, acid and often somewhat bitter ; seeds more or less wedge-shaped.
Type locality : Amboina.
Distribution : Cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions. Naturalized in the West Indies.
- bibliographic citation
- John Kunkel Small, Lenda Tracy Hanks, Nathaniel Lord Britton. 1907. GERANIALES, GERANIACEAE, OXALIDACEAE, LINACEAE, ERYTHROXYLACEAE. North American flora. vol 25(1). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY