Lime
Also called Mexican limeCitrus × aurantiifolia · Rutaceae family
A small citrus can lead from a fragrant pie to a bold whole-fruit pickle.
Find it near DetroitGet to know it
The small Key lime packs sharp juice and a strong citrus scent into a fruit just 2.5–5 cm (1–2 in) across. It is the lime of Key lime pie, a famous dish of the Florida Keys, and goes into whole-fruit pickles in India. Its familiar green skin turns pale yellow as it matures.
What it is
Key lime and Mexican lime are names for the same small citrus, also called West Indian lime. Inside is pale greenish-yellow flesh with seeds and plenty of sour juice. The skin starts glossy green and becomes pale yellow.
The larger Persian lime, Citrus latifolia, also sold as Bearss or Tahitian lime, has seedless flesh.
Where it comes from
Key lime comes from the region around India and the Malay Peninsula. By 1520 it was already a familiar crop in Haiti.
Today it grows in tropical and warm subtropical places, including India, Mexico, Egypt and the West Indies. The Florida Keys give the fruit its American name and a lasting association with pie.
How it's eaten where it grows
Key lime pie, a famous dish of the Florida Keys and southern Florida, is today mostly made with Tahiti lime juice concentrate. A version with a butter-and-biscuit crumb base mixes lime juice and grated zest with condensed milk and egg yolks, bakes the filling briefly, then chills it before serving.
In India, nimbu ka achar keeps the fruit’s peel with its flesh. Cut limes soften in salt, then meet mustard oil, ginger, red and green chillies and roasted fenugreek. Mrs Balbir Singh’s version won first prize at the All-India Citrus Fruit Exhibition in 1957.
How it's grown
Key lime grows as a bushy evergreen tree, up to about 4 m (13 ft) tall, with sharp spines along its branches. It needs sun and warmth, a place sheltered from cold winds, and soil that lets water drain away. Standing water harms it.
Growers can raise it from seed, which usually gives fruit much like the parent tree.
When and where you'll find it
In south Florida, the main Key lime season is usually early summer, and late summer farther north in the state; trees can carry some ripe fruit throughout the year. Melissa’s, a US specialty produce supplier, lists its Key limes as grown in Mexico, with a year-round season.
Yellow skin, sometimes patched with green, fits a mature Key lime. Picked citrus does not get sweeter on the counter. Wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator, Key limes keep for about a week or longer.
Sources · 9
- Good Foodbbcgoodfood.com
- ipm.ucanr.edu
- Melissa’s Producemelissas.com
- Morton, Fruits of Warm Climates (1987)hort.purdue.edu
- Mrs Balbir Singhmrsbalbirsingh.com
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolboxplants.ces.ncsu.edu
- Singapore National Parks Boardnparks.gov.sg
- UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collectioncitrusvariety.ucr.eduOther pages2
- University of Florida IFASask.ifas.ufl.edu
Get it near Detroit
What it tastes like
Softer than a pear, sweeter than a grapefruit≈
More about the taste
Key lime has juicy, highly acidic pulp and a distinctive aroma. Larger Persian limes are a different type and may not taste the same.
The fruit is small and glossy green, becoming pale yellow at maturity, in round, oval or slightly egg-shaped forms.
Choose, ripen, store, eat
1ChooseYellow peel: mature Key limes
Look for
- Yellow peel: mature Key limes
For home-grown Key limes, yellow peel is a sign of maturity — the familiar green shop display isn't the only ripeness stage.
2RipenDoesn’t ripen after picking
Doesn’t ripen after pickingLimes, like other picked citrus, do not become sweeter by waiting on the counter.
3StoreFridge, whole
- FridgeWholePlastic bag
Refrigerate limes in a plastic bag for several days to a week. Purchased fruit may have already spent time in storage.
4EatPeel, Pith, Flesh
Eat
PeelPithFleshIn whole-lime pickle, the peel and pith stay with the flesh as the fruit is cooked and seasoned — a different preparation from squeezing juice.
Detroit, Michigan
When it’s good hereUsual monthsJust arrivedAt their bestLast chanceAll yearWhere it is in its usual monthsToday, Oct 22Grown hereIn season in your stateShips fromIn season where it growsOrderableListed by a seller we checkedThe day a seller was checked
22 growing areas, 7 countriesUsual monthsOur estimated monthsToday, Oct 22
- Bay of Plenty
- California
- Castellón
- Ehime
- Espírito Santo
- Florida
- Georgia
- Granada
- Hawaii
- Messina
- Northern Territory +1
- Pernambuco
- Spain
- You
7 of 11 areas · October
Growing areas by country
- Spain7
- Australia5
- United States5
- Brazil2
- Italy1
- Japan1
- New Zealand1
and 2 more countries
In Singapore, the lime is a cultivated garden introduction, not a native wild plant.
13 varieties
BearssPhoto: Michael Saalfeld · CC BY-SA 2.5- No variety photo yetColima 02
- Feel
- soft
- No variety photo yetExcalibur
- MexicanAlso Key lime, West Indian lime
- No variety photo yetAbhayapuri
- No variety photo yetAddanimma Lime Hybrid
Cook it
1 Lime festivalUsual monthToday, Oct 22
Strange but trueHistoryA myth, and the truthScienceWhere the name came fromCustoms and cultureFood and drinkPeople
If you like Lime
Close relatives
Nutrition, sources
Nutrition
Limes, raw · per 100 g
- Carbohydrate
- 11 g
- Fiber
- 2.8 g
- Sugars
- 1.7 g
- Protein
- 0.7 g
- Fat
- 0.2 g
- Vitamin C
- 29 mg
- Potassium
- 102 mg
Photos · 2
Sources
Lime · Fruitopia · checked Sep 21, 2026