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Triphasia trifolia

Common name:	Lime Berry	Family:	Rutaceae
Author:	(Burm.f.)P.Wilson.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:	Triphasia aurantiola (Lour.), Limonia trifolia
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - China.
Habitat:	Arid ground[245].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Limonia trifoliata[G] T. trifoliata[G,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Jeruk Kingkip [E], Limau Keresek [E], Limau Kiah [E], Limau Kikir [E], Limeberry [P,B], Orange Berry [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	trifolia = 3 leaves
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Sapindales. Rue family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Guam Java
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 3m. It is hardy to zone 10. It is in leaf all year. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked[2, 105, 177, 183]. Red and fleshy[1], the fully ripe fruit has an agreeable sweet taste[1, 2]. Aromatic, juicy and somewhat mucilaginous, the fruit can also be pickled or made into jams etc[183]. The fruit is about 15mm in diameter[200].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Skin.

The leaves are applied to the body in the treatment of diarrhoea, colic and skin diseases[240].

Other Uses

Incense.

The leaves are used as an aromatic bath[61]. The leaves are used as cosmetics[240].
A gum runs from the stem[240], though the report does not mention any uses for this gum.

Cultivation details

Prefers a moderately heavy loam with a generous amount of compost and sand added and a very sunny position[200]. Prefers a pH between 5 and 6[200]. Intolerant of water logging[200], strongly disliking winter wet[1].
Most reports say that this species is not hardy in Britain, requiring greenhouse protection[1, 200], but one report says that a plant outdoors at Boslewick in &ndndndnd produces fruit[59].
Plants are sometimes cultivated for their edible fruit[183].
All parts of the plant are aromatic. The white flowers have a scent of orange blossom[245]. The leaves are covered in pellucid dots and release a resinous scent when bruised[245]. The fruits are lemon-scented[245].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed in a warm greenhouse as soon as it is ripe if this is possible. Otherwise sow the seed in early spring in a warm greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first two winters. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Consider giving them some protection from the cold for at least their first winter outdoors.

Scent

Fruit: Crushed: The berries are lemon-scented[245].
Flowers: Fresh: The white flowers have a scent of orange blossom[245].
Leaves: Crushed: The leaves are covered in pellucid dots and release a resinous scent when bruised[245].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Rutaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[59] Thurston. Trees and Shrubs in &ndndndnd.
Trees and shrubs that succeed in &ndndndnd based on the authors own observations. Good but rather dated.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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