Specialty fruit, citrus relative also known as Microcitrus australasica one of six different species of citrus considered to be native to Australia. Origin: imported from Sydney, Australia, in 1965, released by Citrus Clonal Protection Program (CCPP) as VI 697 in 2007. Tree: very small (about 5 ft on Schaub rough lemon) to large depending on the rootstock (the CVC has used several: Schaub rough lemon, Cleopatra mandarin, C-35 citrange, Carrizo citrange, Calamondin, Citrus macrophylla); leaves are tiny approximately one-half inch long and the branches become very dense and thorny with about one thorn set in every leaf axil; new growth is purple in color and the one-quarter inch wide flowers are white and pink during the main flowering season of February to April. Fruit: about 3 inches long and roughly the size of an average person’s index finger, but fruit from juvenile trees can be less than 1 inch long; greenish black to very dark purple, thin durable skin; flesh clear-green to very light pink tiny round juice vesicles, resemble “citrus caviar”; very tart juice, much like a Mexican lime; main ripening season in California is November–December when the fruit falls off in your hand.
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