A range of new native lime varieties on the way ?

[pagnr]

www.csiro.au/en/research/plants/crops/Horticulture/Novel-Australian-lime-varieties

quote verbatim on 15/11/22

Commercially available Australian lime varieties

We have bred and commercially released a number of native lime varieties for ornamental and food uses. Australian Blood Lime was developed from a cross between an acid mandarin and a native finger lime. Australian Sunrise Lime is a cross between a calamondin (mandarin crossed with cumquat) and a native finger lime. Australian Outback Lime is a cultivar developed from a collection of different native desert lime trees.

These three lime varieties were granted Plant Breeders Rights in 2004 and are licensed to four nurseries across Australia. Potted ornamentals are retailed through major nursery chains and by the licensed nurseries, and these are available for further license.

A range of new native lime varieties are also under assessment that are potentially available for semi-commercial evaluation by interested parties.

[pissp]

Always envious of the varieties y'all got down there - wish there was an easier way to bring them over here!

Pagnr - have you tried the outback lime? If so, how does it compare to the wild-type c. glauca?

[pagnr]

I think the outback lime is a selection of Citrus glauca. I don't think it was actually cross bred with other species.
I remember seeing some photos of some of the wild types collected before it was released, and the fruit were variable from round to elongated.
A few people have selected better fruiting types or more regular croppers.

I have not tried glauca fruit, it sort of dropped off my radar, and I have not seen it in the wild. It can be hard to find as a lot of the area it grows in are big cattle stations or sheep stations, hard to access without permission. I have been thinking of going to look for it, as it grows around 200 to 250 km from here. I did try a virtual search on Google street view along the main highway for fun recently.

[mikkel]

www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australia2016/australia2016glauca.html

maybe this is helpful.

[pagnr]

Thanks mikkel, Yes that is the area I am thinking of.
As the notes say
Colin had offered to take me to a stand of Desert Lime trees on a friend's property some 35 kms south-west of Broken Hill.
We set off on the Menindee Road, then turned onto unsealed tracks for the last 5kms or so.

So they are on Private property, so unless there is a public access road nearby, or close to a boundary fence it can be hard.
Also I have collected other wild fruit species before, sometimes timing is hard to not only find plants but get fruit too.

On the plus side that area has had a few years of very good rain after a prolonged drought, so it might be a good time to take a look.
That is one reason I haven't looked before, a prolonged drought in that area.

You did however remind me that the glauca trees are very distinct and often the only thing rising above the other low shrubs.
That is what I looked for on the Google street view along the highway, but the satellite imagery from above might be useful too.
The sat image shows a distinct group of trees where the glauca are, it should be possible to find other similar looking sites closer to easy access roads.

[citrange]

If you are seriously thinking of looking for C. glauca in the Broken Hill area I can give you the contact details for Colin who assisted me on my visit.
However, as you suggest, this was private land owned by a friend of Colin, and other stands of C. glauca are not common in the area. Although the trees were spectacularly different from nearby vegetation, they are almost impossible to distinguish in satellite views.
Citrus glauca grows over a wide area of Queensland and New South Wales. I would study the records on the Australian Virtual Herbarium website, and iNaturalistAU and see where there are reports from publically accessible areas. You will find a few enthusiasts who make many botanical reports and if you can obtain their contact details I am sure they would help locate individual specimens.

[pissp]

Nov 17, 2022 4:41:27 GMT -5 citrange said:

If you are seriously thinking of looking for C. glauca in the Broken Hill area I can give you the contact details for Colin who assisted me on my visit.
However, as you suggest, this was private land owned by a friend of Colin, and other stands of C. glauca are not common in the area. Although the trees were spectacularly different from nearby vegetation, they are almost impossible to distinguish in satellite views.
Citrus glauca grows over a wide area of Queensland and New South Wales. I would study the records on the Australian Virtual Herbarium website, and iNaturalistAU and see where there are reports from publically accessible areas. You will find a few enthusiasts who make many botanical reports and if you can obtain their contact details I am sure they would help locate individual specimens.

Those are fantastic resources - loved seeing all the photos on iNat

[pagnr]

Thanks Citrange, I have some other leads in that area, so I will see how that goes.
The Satellite image of the patch of glauca trees seems to have distinct column type shadows.
If you open the Sat  image and pan across the image to the creek, the trees there have different round shadows or shapes (  Eucalyptus and  Acacias ).
Still it is a big call, but might be useful in eliminating areas or narrowing down spots more likely.

Too bad we can't get military resolution on those images. You might even be able to zoom in on the fruit.
Maybe an Algorithm to search the satellite images for corresponding patches.
Any Hackers on the forum ?

It also occurred to me that any new CSIRO bred Fingerlime types are probably going to be patented via PVR / PBR. They should appear as an application in the Journal at some stage.