Amber Eureka lemon

Citrus × limon L. Burm.f.

CRC 2429

PI 539316

Photos by Toni Siebert and David Karp, CVC. Photo rights.

Source: Received as budwood from Detweiler grove, Alta Loma, Ca, 1932.

Parentage/origins: Buds from A.D. Shamel, No. 12005. Apparently entire tree in 20 year old Eureka orchard yields this type of fruit.

Rootstocks of accession: Yuma Ponderosa lemon

Season of ripeness at Riverside: Crop well distributed throughout year, but mainly in late winter, spring, and early summer.

Notes and observations:

1986, EMN: Flesh and juice amber or orange colored, flowers white, mild taste.

12/04/1987, EMN: One fruit only. Flesh color more orange than amber. Color is strikingly different from ordinary lemons.

11/11/1988, EMN: Good crop this year. Trees appear typically lemon. Fruits appear fairly typically lemon though may be slightly fatter and less elongate. Orangish flesh is considerably less sour than normal lemons. Should try for lemonade later in season.

1/20/1989, EMN: Definitely less acid than ordinary lemons, but not sweet enough for lemonade without sugar. Anyway, this would probably make weird colored lemonade- is the world ready for this yet?

1/20/2009, TJS: Flesh color is a light to medium orange, flavor is definitely sub-acid. I think it has a pleasant flavor, and flavorists enjoy the intermediate acid flavor of this lemon too. Flowers are white. Shape is like a fat lemon with sweet orange-like rind texture. When selecting fruit from this tree, usually half of what you pick is completely granulated. So far, there is no way to know from the external appearance of the fruit if the inside will be granulated or not.

Availability: Not commercially available in California.

USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network page for Amber Eureka lemon