Sow Exotic Tropical Fruit & Spice Trees Key Lime (Citrus × Aurantiifolia)

⚠ Citrus ships to Florida only ⚠

Key limes (Citrus x aurantiifolia, West Indian lime, Mexican lime, bartender’s lime) are as true as true can be to the best qualities of limes. These lime hybrid trees are naturalized to areas of the West Indies, but are related to original Asian varieties of limes. In Florida, these are the central ingredient to Key lime pie filling, which came about in an old-timey effort to make condensed milk palatable. Turns out, pies do grow on trees!

Key lime trees embrace the harsh realities of tropical climates, thriving in acidic, rocky soils with low requirements for irrigation and fertilization.  As limes are wont to do, key lime grows more shrublike than treelike, with thorny stems for a natural defense mechanism. Generally, care for key lime trees means very little coddling, except for cold protection. Key lime plants flower by late winter to spring, and produce fruit shortly afterwards.