Mildly fragrant flowers may be solitary, or there may be two or more. Buds are reddish. Opened flowers have 4 or 5 petals, white on upper surface, purplish beneath. It is aromatic, dotted with oil glands. Pulp is pale yellow, in 8 to 10 segments, juicy, acid.
Yields vary considerably with the cultivar, the location and weather conditions.
The true home of the lemon tree is unknown. It reached Sicily before 1000 and China between 760 and 1297 A.D. Arabs distributed it widely in the Mediterranean region between 1174 and 1193. Christopher Columbus carried lemon seeds to Hispaniola in 1493. They were grown in California in 1751-1768. Lemons were reported to be increasingly planted in northeastern Florida in 1839.