Are Limes and Lemons the Same?

While limes might calculate like modest , unripe lemons , they ’re quite specifically dissimilar fruits . However , the trees look exchangeable , so how can you tell the difference between a lime tree ( Citrus aurantiifolia ) and a lemon tree diagram ( Citrus limon ) if it has no fruit ?

The flower and subsequent fruit visibly disagree , of track . But if your tree has not yet flowered and place fruit , look at the leaves , the tree ’s shape and its size .

Flowers and Fruit

The notable sweet scent ease up off by citrus fruit ( USDA hardiness zone 8 to 11 ) is coarse to both lemon yellow and limes , although some say that lemon has a stronger scent .

Flowers: Small and White in Clusters vs. Purple and Potentially Single

The efflorescence of the lime are minor and white , borne in clusters . The stinker , on the other hand , has bloom with a soft purplish tinge and may be single , or they may also grow in a cluster , like the lime . So the main difference here is the color .

Fruits: Rougher and Bumpy Elongated Footballs vs. Thinner and Smoother Spheres

The fruit is clearly different , so if your tree has fruit , you know which one you have . However , if it ’s early in the time of year and your tree is full of small , green fruits that have not yet taken on their fledged vividness and size , the color will not help you identify your tree , so consider the shape .

Lemons ordinarily have an elongated football shape with points at each end . Its tegument may be harsh or rough . Limes are typically more rounded , with thinner , smoother hide . If you cut into the fruit , the slurred tegument on the lemon will be more visible .

Size and Shape

At their mature summit , lemon trees are bigger than limes . If the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree you ’re look at is nearly 20 feet tall and has a spread just as wide , you know it ’s a lemon .

Citrus aurantifolia trees are smaller with less of a paste , although they tend to develop like bushes with multiple tree trunk , unless lop otherwise . They commonly strain no more than 13 foot in height .

Leaf Differences

While the leave reckon quite similar and both are an oblong shape , you ’ll notice that a gamboge tree diagram ’s folio are larger , about 5 column inch long , while lime tree leaves are about 2 inch long . But the real delineator is that gamboge parting have o.k. teeth on the edges , while burnt lime Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree foliage are smooth .

Nutritional Characteristics of Limes and Lemons

While calcium oxide and lemons are traditionally used differently in the culinary world , they have a very similar nutritionary profile . They both carry a vast antioxidant and vitamin snow slug as well as being productive in flavonoids .

Together , they are the most acid of all citrus fruit , with lemon juice offer just slightly more citric back breaker capacity at 48 grams per litre equate to lime ’s 45.8 grams — hardly a blip when it come to these two acidic fruits . lemon contain a little more potassium and vitamin C than caustic lime do , but the difference are negligible .

References

Lemons and limes contrasted with the text