Calamansi

Calamansi (Citrus × microcarpa), also known as calamondin, Philippine lime, or Philippine lemon, is a citrus hybrid cultivated predominantly in the Philippines. It is native to the Philippines, parts of Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, and Sulawesi), Malaysia, and Brunei, as well as Taiwan, and parts of southern China.

Calamansi is ubiquitous in traditional Philippine cuisine. It is naturally very sour, and is used in various condiments, beverages, dishes, marinades, and preserves. Calamansi is also used as an ingredient in Malaysian and Indonesian cuisines.

Calamansi is a hybrid between kumquat (formerly considered as belonging to a separate genus Fortunella) and another species of Citrus (in this case probably the mandarin orange).

Calamansi is the Philippine English spelling of Tagalog kalamansi ([kɐlɐmɐnˈsɪʔ]), and is the name by which it is most widely known in the Philippines. In parts of the United States, notably Florida and Hawaii, calamansi is also known as "calamondin", an old name from the American period of the Philippines. It is an anglicized form of the alternate Tagalog name kalamunding.

Other English common names of calamansi include: lemonsito (or limoncito, Spanish for "little lemon"), Philippine lime, calamonding, calamondin orange, calamandarin, golden lime, Philippine lemon, Panama orange (also used for kumquats), musk orange, bitter-sweets and acid orange.

Calamansi was formerly identified as Citrus mitis Blanco, C. microcarpa Bunge or C. madurensis Lour. All those referred to it as a citrus. Swingle's system of citrus classification put kumquats into a separate genus, Fortunella, making the calamansi an intergeneric hybrid in that older system. In 1975 it was therefore given the hybrid name × Citrofortunella mitis by John Ingram and Harold E. Moore based on Blanco's species name. In 1984, D. Onno Wijnands pointed out that Bunge's species name, C. microcarpa (1832), predated Blanco's Citrus mitis (1837), making × Citrofortunella microcarpa the proper name. Phylogenetic analysis now places the kumquat within the same genus as other citrus, meaning that its hybrids with other Citrus, including those formerly named as × Citrofortunella, likewise belong in Citrus.

Citrus × depressa (shikwasa), a similar citrus native to Taiwan and Okinawa, is sometimes called "calamansi" in English.

Calamansi, Citrus x microcarpa, is a shrub or small tree growing to 3–6 m (10–20 ft). The plant is characterized by wing-like appendages on the leaf petioles and white or purplish flowers. The fruit of the calamansi resembles a small, round lime, usually 25–35 mm (1–1+3⁄8 in) in diameter, but sometimes up to 45 mm (1+3⁄4 in). The center pulp and juice is the orange color of a tangerine with a very thin orange peel when ripe. Each fruit contains 8 to 12 seeds.^{[citation needed]}