Citrus medica L., Rutaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chamorro: limon real, setlas, tronkon setlas

English: citron

Fijian: moli, moli karokaro

French: cédratier

Maori (Cook Islands): rēneme māori

Samoan: moli patupatu, moli patupatu, tipolo, tipolo

Spanish: cidro, citrón, toronja

Tahitian: tapolo

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Small tree; twigs angled, purplish when young, soon rounding; axillary spines short, stout; leaves ovate, blunt to rounded at tip, rounded or cuneate at base, the margins serrate; petioles with very narrow wings, or wingless, not conspicuously jointed to blade; flowers bisexual or staminate; petals 5, exterior pinkish; stamens 30-60; ovary 10-13-locular; fruit ovoid to oblong, the surface usually bumpy, yellow when ripe, the rind very thick; segments greenish, sour to slightly sweet"  (Stone, 1970; p. 352).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "occasionally cultivated and sparingly naturalized at elevations up to about 100 m" (Smith, 1985; p. 518).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Only cultivated, possible origin northeastern India" (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
American Samoa Swain's Island	Swain's Island	introduced cultivated	Whistler, W. A. (1983) (p. 14)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Santiago Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Lakemba Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 518) Voucher cited: Garnock-Jones 895
Fiji Fiji Islands	Tuvutha Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 518) Voucher cited: Bryan 545
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Mbalavu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 518) Voucher cited: Garnock-Jones 1088
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 518) Voucher cited: Meebold 16487
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 253) Vouchers cited: Moore 151, Moore 416
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 253) Voucher cited: Grant 3999
French Polynesia Tuamotu Archipelago	Raroia Atoll	introduced	Doty, Maxwell S. (1954) (p. 37)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 352) Rare in cultivation.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 123)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. (1999) (p. 102)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 125) Voucher cited: MacKee 37314
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Raoul Island	introduced cultivated	Sykes, W. R. (1977) (p. 139) Relic of cultivation.
Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands	Pitcairn Island	introduced	St. John, H. (1987) (p. 38) Observed in 1934.

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island		Stoddart, D. R./Taylor, J. D., eds. (1971) (p. 152) Voucher cited: Rhyne 774 (US)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Agalega Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. (1983) (p. 136)

Additional information:
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.

Additional online information about Citrus medica is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Citrus medica as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Citrus medica may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Doty, Maxwell S. 1954. Floristic and Ecological Notes on Raroia Atoll, Tuamotus. Land biota: vascular plants. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 33. Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington. 41 pp.

Falanruw, Marjorie C./Maka, Jean E./Cole, Thomas G./Whitesell, Craig D. 1990. Common and scientific names of trees and shrubs of Mariana, Caroline, and Marshall Islands. Pac. SW Forest and Range Expt. Stn. Resource Bulletin PSW-67. 91 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. 1983. List of the recorded vascular flora of Agalega. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Smith, Albert C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 3. 758 pp.

St. John, H. 1987. An account of the flora of Pitcairn Island with new Pandanus species. Honolulu, 65 pp.

Stoddart, D. R./Taylor, J. D., eds. 1971. Geography and ecology of Diego Garcia Atoll, Chagos Archipelago. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 149. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 237 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Sykes, W. R. 1977. Kermadec Islands flora: an annotated checklist. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 219, Wellington. 216 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1983. The flora and vegetation of Swains Island. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 262. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 25 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1984. Annotated list of Samoan plant names. Economic Botany 38:464.489.

Whistler, W. A. 1990. Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands: The plants, their Maori names, and their uses. Allertonia 5(4):347-424.

Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. 1999. Botanical survey of the United States of America Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Islands. Prepared for Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and the U. S. Army Environmental Center. 111 pp.

Yuncker, T. G. 1945. Plants of the Manua Islands. Bishop Mus. Bull. 184. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 73 pp.