Amber Eureka lemon

Citrus limon L. Burm.f.

CRC 2429
PI 539316

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.

4/1/2016, TJS: Update--Claire Federici noticed that this tree now has branches that have reverted back to a standard Eureka type lemon. Is Amber another lemon in the collection that has chimeras (see Faris lemon)? Note photographs below. Tree now has both flowers that are all white and some that are purple on the outside. Fruits on the branches with purple flowers have yellow flesh and are sour like a standard lemon (fruit on the left). Fruits on the branches with white flowers have orange flesh and are sub-acid (fruit on the right). More to follow.