Lemon Tree
Tree Friend Assignment
Lemon tree, Latin Name-Citrus x Limon,belongs to Citrus Family-Rutacaea.
It is a small evergreen tree native to Asia-thought to be first grown in Assam( NE India ),Burma or China.It was in introduced in Europe near southern Italy around the first century AD. From there it came to Persia and Egypt in 700 AD.
The lemon was first recorded in literature in a 10th-century Arabic treatise on farming, and was also used as an ornamental plant in early Islamic gardens. It was distributed widely throughout the Arab world and the Mediterranean region between 1000 and 1150.
The first substantial cultivation of lemons in Europe began in Genoa in the middle of the 15th century. The lemon was later introduced to the Americas in 1493 when Christopher Columbus brought lemon seeds to Hispaniola on his voyages.
It is a perrineal tree that grows well in tropical and subtropical humid regions.It grows to it’s full size in 10-14 years ater planting and can live upto 50 years.
The true lemon tree reaches 3-6 m in height and usually has sharp thorns on the twigs.The diameter of tree trunk can be between 19-27 cm and tree foliage can be 11-15 m. The fruit is oval with a nipple-like protuberance at the apex; 7 -12 cm long; the peel is usually light-yellow though some lemons are variegated with longitudinal stripes of green and yellow or white; it is aromatic, dotted with oil glands;6-10 mm thick; pulp is pale-yellow, in 8 to 10 segments, juicy, acid. Some fruits are seedless, most have a few seeds, elliptic or ovate, pointed, smooth, 9.5 mm long, white inside.
The tree starts yielding fruit from 5th year onwards if grown from a seed.It can start giving fruit as early as 2 years if grown from a small plant.
Once lemon tree begins fruiting, it consistently produces fruit every year under ideal climate and soil conditions. Each cultivar fruits during different seasons, but the majority are ready for harvesting between summer and winter. Producing fruit takes four to 12 months once the tree starts blossoming. During this flowering period, lemon trees rely on insects for cross-pollination and fruit development.
It continues to give fruit till 20-25 years.
There are various uses of lemon.Slices of lemon are served as a garnish on fish or meat or with iced or hot tea, to be squeezed for the flavorful juice.
Lemon juice, fresh, canned, concentrated and frozen, or dehydrated and powdered, is primarily used for lemonade, in carbonated beverages, or other drinks. It is also used for making pies and tarts, as a flavoring for cakes, cookies, cake icings, puddings, sherbet, confectionery, preserves and pharmaceutical products. A few drops of lemon juice, added to cream before whipping, gives stability to the whipped cream.
Lemon peel can be candied at home and is preserved in brine and supplied to manufacturers of confectionery and baked goods. It is the source of lemon oil, pectin and citric acid. Lemon oil, often with terpenes and sesquiterpenes removed, is added to frozen or otherwise processed lemon juice to enrich the flavor. It is much employed as a flavoring for hard candies.
Other Uses
Lemon juice is valued in the home as a stain remover, and a slice of lemon dipped in salt can be used to clean copper-bottomed cooking pots. Lemon juice has been used for bleaching freckles and is incorporated into some facial cleansing creams.
Lemon peel oil is used in furniture polishes, detergents, soaps and shampoos. It is important in perfume blending and especially in colognes.
Lemon peel, dehydrated, is marketed as cattlefeed.
Lemonade, when applied to potted plants, has been found to keep their flowers fresh longer than normal.
Wood: The wood is fine-grained, compact, and easy to work. I can be carved into chessmen, toys, small spoons, and other articles.
Medicinal Uses: Lemon juice is widely known as a diuretic, antiscorbutic and astringent. Lemon juice in hot water has been widely advocated as a daily laxative and preventive of the common cold, but daily doses have been found to erode the enamel of the teeth. Lemon juice and honey, or lemon juice with salt or ginger, is taken when needed as a cold remedy. It was the juice of the Mediterranean sweet lemon, not the lime, that was carried aboard British sailing ships of the 18th Century to prevent scurvy, though the sailors became known as “limeys”.
