In 1998, David Mabberley, then director of Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, described a new native citrus discovered near Humpty Doo not far from Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory. Named Citrus gracilis, it was clearly a close relative of the native Australian citrus varieties formerly classified as 'Microcitrus' and 'Eremocitrus' but now all botanically re-united as true Citrus species. Part of the article published in Telopea is reproduced here.
twig
The following pictures were kindly sent to me from the Northern Territory Herbarium  in Darwin Australia. I believe these were the first pictures of Citrus gracilis on the internet.
 
Twig growth and leaf form similar to Citrus glauca which grows further south and in much drier areas.  Bark appears rougher than other citrus.
leaves
The fresh fruit were said to be green and up to 10 cms in diameter. At first I thought these brown specimens were dried, but in fact they have been pickled to retain shape and texture. The process does, however, destroy the original colour.
bark
Any further information about Citrus gracilis will be gratefully received.
dried fruit
split dried fruit
page updated 15th February 2009 & 8th November 2019
TENPS, the Australian 'Top End Native Plant Society', was looking after a small population of Citrus gracilis. The following pictures were taken by their members. Notice, as in the original description, the suckers and the irregular squares of bark.
citrus gracilis leaves
citrus gracilis tree
citrus gracilis suckers
citrus gracilis bark
a new Australian native
The information on this page is now rather old. For more recent photos start from
AUSTRALIA 2016 and CITRUS GRACILIS 2019
The information on this page is now rather old. For more recent photos start from
AUSTRALIA 2016 and CITRUS GRACILIS 2019