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Similar Finger Lime, Desert Lime, Florentine citron, Sanboken, Komikan | ||
Blood limes (or 'Australian Blood Lime') are a hybrid citrus fruit developed by the CSIRO project to investigate salt-resistant crops.
While the limes proved unsuitable for high-salt conditions, they have seen some commercial development; the first commercial crop appeared in markets in Australia in July 2004, and are under consideration for export.
The blood lime is smaller than most limes, approximately 4 cm long by 2 cm diameter, and somewhat more sweet than the standard. It is egg-shaped and fruits in winter. The flesh inside a blood lime is red. The skin can be eaten with the fruit, it is mostly red or burgundy, but can sometimes green like the standard lime.
The blood lime is a cross between the red finger lime (Citrus australasica var. sanguinea) and the 'Ellendale Mandarin' hybrid. The Ellendale is a sweet orange/mandarin cross. The medium sized trees which have thorns, may be planted as an ornamental.
