Citrus australasica

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Finger Lime

A whole red finger lime

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Rutaceae
Genus:	Citrus
Species:	C. australasica

Binomial name

Citrus australasica
F. Muell.

The Finger Lime plant, Citrus australasica (formerly Microcitrus australasica) is a thorny understorey shrub of the lowland subtropical rainforests of Eastern Australia.

Although there is no documentation that finger lime was traditionally eaten by Aboriginal people, it's possible that indigenous use was not observed or recorded by Europeam settlers. Early non-indigenous settlers consumed the fruit and retained the trees when clearing for agriculture.

The finger lime has been recently popularised as a gourmet bushfood. The cylindrical fruit has globular vesicles, likened to a "caviar lime", which can be used as a garnish or added to various recipes. The fresh vesicles have the effect of a burst of effervescent tangy flavour as they are chewed. Marmalade and pickles are also made from finger lime. The finger lime peel can be dried and used as a flavouring spice.

Commercial use of finger lime fruit started in the mid-1990s in boutique marmalades made from wild harvested fruit. By 2000 the finger lime was being sold in restaurants, including the export of fresh fruit.

There is a wide range of different coloured variants of finger lime fruit, including green, yellow, orange, red, purple, black and brown. Thought to be the widest range of colour variation within any Citrus species.

The finger lime has been recently grown on a commercial basis in Australia in response to high demand for the fruit. There is an increasing range of genetic selections which are budded onto Citrus rootstock. With the sudden high market demand for the fruit the primary source of genetic material for propagation has been selections from wild stock.

In cultivation, the finger lime plant is grown in the much the same way as other citrus species. It may be subject to some pests and diseases requiring pest control in cropping situations. This includes scale, caterpillars, gall-wasp, and limb dieback.

Research conducted in the 1970s indicated that a wild selection of C. australasica was highly resistant to Phytophthora citrophthora root disease, which has resulted in a cross-breeding program with finger lime to develop disease-resistant citrus rootstock.

The CSIRO has also developed several Citrus hybrids by crossing the finger lime with standard Citrus species.