The true lemon is very rarely cultivated in the Philippines and all
lemons used are imported from California, Australia and Spain.
Citrus pseudolimonum. Colo-colo.
(Pl. VIIa.)
A thorny shrub, 3 meters tall, with interlocking branches, and short,
sharp spines; leaves 8 to 11 centimeters long, 40 to 45 millimeters
broad, elliptical to oblong-ovate, crenulate to serrulate; base
rounded; apex obtuse, frequently slightly notched; petioles 18 to
25 millimeters long, with narrow wing margin, rarely exceeding 10
millimeters in width; flowers 1 to 5, in terminal or axillary short
cymes, 28 to 35 millimeters in diameter, white, purplish outside;
calyx cupped; stamens 30 to 37, nearly always free, unequal; ovary
broadly obovoid, 14 to 18 loculed; style distinct; fruit roundish
to pyriform, small, usually compressed at base; apex irregular;
surface greenish lemon, more or less corrugate; oil cells raised;
skin comparatively thick; pulp acid; juice cells small, short and
plump; seeds undeveloped and sterile.
The colo-colo is another of these peculiar Philippine species with
more or less winged petioles affiliated to the lemon, etc. Flowers
were collected in May, and ripe fruit has been examined in January
and February. The nearly always free stamens in a plant belonging to
the same general group as the lemon is of interest.
Near the colo-colo is the "lombog," considered a distinct fruit, also
found in Bohol. This variety is less vigorous than the colo-colo and
also differs from the plant in having narrower wing margins and 21
to 28 stamens and 9 to 11 locules. The fruit is said to be about 4.5
centimeters in diameter and similar in shape to that of the colo-colo.
The "kunot" is a third variety considered distinct by the Boholanos
that also may be referred to C. pseudolimonum.
To C. pseudolimonum may perhaps also be referred a thorny, arborescent
shrub, attaining a height of 4.5 meters, found in Siquijor, a little
island south of Negros. Material of this was collected in August,
1912, by the writer, at which time the tree bore partly grown, oblong,
rough, small fruits. The plants at Lamao have flowered during the last
two months but have not set fruit. The principal difference in this
variety from the colo-colo and lombog is in the number of stamens,
here 36 to 41.
The fruits of C. pseudolimonum have no economic value.
Colo-colo, B. A. No. 2535, 4825; Lombog, No. 2498, 4827 (Bohol), 1953
(Siquijor).
Citrus limetta Risso. Lime.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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