Lemon

Lemon

Lemon is the fruit of the small tree or bush from the Rue family, called Citrus Limon. Lemon trees usually grow to be 10 to 20 feet tall and bloom throughout the year in relatively cool, equable climatic zones like Italy & California.

History

It is believed that the Lemon tree as we know it first originated in India or China. In India, the lemon was especially valuable and favored in cooking, while the Chinese focused on medicinal uses for lemon, like using it as an antiseptic or antidote to poison.

By the thirteenth century the trade in lemon juice had grown considerably including Egypt and parts of the Mediterraneaan, and by the 1500’s Lemon was traded across the entire Mediterranean, in all Asian continents, and even in the New World, now the U.S. Since then, lemon has been used all over the world in a myriad of ways.

Today, India is the largest exporter of lemons. In the states, both California and Florida are the highest producers of lemons.

Harvest

Lemons are usually harvested beginning in November and through March each year, though they can bloom and be harvested throughout the year! Lemons are gently harvested by hand by either twisting the fruit at the base or by clipping the fruit using pruners. Ladders are used to secure fruit out of reach.

Anatomy

Like all citrus trees, Lemon Trees are evergreen, sporting red or green oval leaves – some of which can have thorns. Small white or reddish flowers blossom on the Lemon tree, along with the bright yellow, oval shaped, Lemon fruit. Full sized Lemon fruit is usually considered to be about 2 inches in diameter.

Etymology

The origin of the word lemon may be Middle Eastern. The word draws from the Old French limon, then Italian limone, from the Arabic laymūn or līmūn, and from the Persian līmūn, a generic term for citrus fruit, which is a cognate of Sanskrit (nimbū, “lime”)