A member of another forum, who was visiting in Florida, stopped at one of Florida's, road side tourist stops, and purchased a lemon tree, that are very commonly sold at these kind of tourist stops, and also at most Florida airports. He has been growing his "lemon" tree for eight years, waiting to see even one single fruit appear. Inquiring on the forum if anyone would be able to identify what type of lemon variety it could possibly be, Junglekeeper suggested that he E-mail the seller (Reed Brothers Citrus Co.) and ask. The answer came back that it was a Volkameriana. Many, many Florida visitors purchase these trees thinking, quite naturally, that they are buying a regular lemon, such as a Lisbon or Eureka,, which will produce the fruits that are sold in their stores back home. On top of it all, they are even seedling trees, which will take many years before they produce the worthless type of fruit that a Volkameriana produces. No where on the carton does Reed Brothers Citrus Co. identify the variety . There must be a lot of disappointed tourists when they find out what they bought. - Millet (1,281-)

Millet,

No way to know if it is the case here, but Volkameriana is often used as a rootstock for lemons. This could simply be simply a case of the rootstock taking over the tree, either because the scion froze, or the owner did not know to remove sprouts below the graft. I see it all the time.

Of course now there are other, more important reasons for avoiding citrus trees at roadside stands in Florida..

Ned

Ned no, there is no chance what-so-ever that it could be from a rootstock taking over the tree. After Junglekeeper's suggestion to ask the supplier (Reed Brothers Citrus Co) what the lemon variety was, an E-mail was sent to Reed Brothers asking them what variety of lemon they sell at these road stops. As I wrote above, Reed Brothers responded back that the tree's variety was a Volkameriana. My guess is that Reed Brothers grows lots and lots of seedling Volk, to be used as commercial rootstocks, and regrettably (for the tourists) also sells them off to the unsuspecting tourists. Easy money. Additionally, remember that the "lemon" tree was purchased 8 years ago. Therefore, Reed Brothers Citrus has been doing this for a long, long time. - Millet (1,280-)

That is surprising Millet. I have always thought Reed Brother's was a reputable company.

Ned

This surprises me also. I have done some business with Reed Bros in the recent past and have found them to be good people to deal with. It surprises me that they would represent rootstock to be a lemon tree.......and to me that is just what Volk................. is......a rootstock. I have seen the packaged trees at roadside stands and wondered why there was no control over the crossing of state lines by the State of FL at these places.....really there is not even a good "put on" as to control...it just does not exist....and with what is happening in Fla to the industry...you would think that they would be really on top of trees leaving there...........................David

David and Ned, I can only attest to the answer that Reed Brothers Citrus answered back, in response to the question of what was the variety that they sold. They advised that the variety of lemon was a Volk. There are, of course, many types of lemons, and if no particular variety of lemon is claimed on the package, then actually no illegal misrepresentation is made, although I would classify it, in the best case scenario, as a very gray situation, particularly to the tourist that purchased the product. - Millet (1,276-)