Last year, I went to a local Italian bakery to purchase a birthday cake. When I was there, I noticed a large lemon tree in a pot -- it was well established with a large stem and had 5 or 6 close to grapefruit sized lemons hanging from the branches. The leaves were rounded, somewhat citron-like in appearance. The fruit were irregularly shaped, but some seem to be grapefuit like in shape and quite large. At first, I thought it was a grapefruit tree but the owner told me that no, she had received it some 20 years ago as a small cutting and it is a Lemon. She then went on to tell me that it is not sour, but sweet, and at the holidays, they serve slices of the lemon with lamb. Appearance wise, this lemon resembles a Ponderosa, of which I already have two, but Ponderosas are just about as sour as Eureka or Lisbon -- definitely not a sweet, or even a semi-sweet lemon. The leaves and thorns (very small but present) remind me of the Ponderosa. I did some research and the description and size sound a lot like an Amalfi lemon. One clue might be the comment she made about a lot of "old Italians have them." I took some cuttings at the time, most of which died in the rooting tray. One, rooted in water actually seemed to be doing well until I under or overwatered it. This spring I went back for another cake and this time the owner (who I had sent information I found on Amalfi lemons -- Amalfi sfusato -- gave me an actual rooted sucker from her tree. The only problem is that it was sitting in a pot of very wet soil and by the time I got it, all the roots deteriorated. I put it in a tall narrow pot in a fast draining soil mix. I have had it for about six months and the stem is still green and lo and behold, I have detected a tiny green nub that has appeared and seems to be slowly growing. I still have one of the original small cuttings as well, which is holding its own in water, but doesn't seem to be doing much in the way of rooting. Does anyone have any idea what kind of lemon this might be?

Maybe Sanbokan lemon (citrus sulcata). Very sweet and the size of grapefruit. They don't however have rounded leaves like a citron. Can you post some photos of the fruit & leaves ?

Thanks very much for responding to my post about the giant lemon. The lemon I am trying to identify is definitely NOT a Sanbokan (I have a Sanbokan and the mystery lemon is more like a Ponderosa in habit and fruit shape.) Sanbokan fruit are definitely shaped like fat pears and this fruit doesn't really have pear or bell shaped fruit. Also, the growth habit is very different. The bakery lemon is very twiggy and stiff; the Sanbokan has a beautiful "draping" or cascading habit (or, at least mine does!) Also, the fruit I saw on the bakery lemon were a little larger (if I recall correctly) than any Sanbokan fruit I have ever seen -- even the one growing outdoors at the Citrus Arboretum in Winter Haven, FL. They were more like the size and shape of very large Ponderosa lemons. If the owner of the bakery had not described the lemons as "sweet," I would for sure have identified this plant as a probable Ponderosa. When she suggested they are sweet, I said, "Oh, it's a grapefruit!" She told me, quite adamantly, that it is a lemon and is grown by a lot of "old Italians."
When I shared the articles I had found online describing the Amalfi sfusato (which is described as enormous and sweet), she seemed to feel that was it, however, I can't really find anything in the citrus literature that describes this variety, so I am wondering if it goes by another name.

I will try to get some photos when I go to the bakery if their tree has fruit. My little 12 inch twig has no leaves at present so I have nothing to photograph here.

Very interesting. See if you can get a budstick or two in the spring & I will bud some up.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_medica

It is citrus medica

Malden

Thanks for the info malden. I also found this link. Maybe joe or other would like to try the drink...

http://marsalamia.wordpress.com/2009/03/04/when-life-gives-you-lemons/

HI Laaz

Thanks for the link as well. I am afraid to say that no right minded Sicilian would ever put sugar on a Cedro salad. The fruit contains natural sugar and an amazing balanced tart and sweet taste. Its very hard to describe and you just have to taste one to understand, it's unlike any other citrus. This variety of Cedro is mainly found in Sicily and its not that easy to find even there as it has zero commercial value. So you might find it at a outdoor market or you have to have trees.

Limoncello is the pride of the Sicilian housewife. She will have learned a recipe from her grandmother and when you are invited to have a drink after a meal, it is usually home made and delicious. The industrial versions found in stores do not hold a candle to a good homemade recipe.

M

Cedro is the Italian for the citron, Citrus medica. There are acid and non-acid types. The variety grown commercially in Calabria is Diamante, but there are other local varieties and various lemon/citron hybrids are known. The Tintori nursery has collected numerous old varieties which they call 'Citrus limonimedica' or 'Limoni Cedrati'. They list around 30 varieties of these and citrons. I am sure there are many examples still grown in private gardens in Southern Italy and Sicily.
Your 'lemon' could well be derived from one of these.
The full list of Tintori varieties is at

http://www.oscartintori.it/indice.pdf

Mike aka Citrange

There is also the Giant Panzarella Lemon, and the Giant Panzarella Orange. I grow both varieties. Both fruits are enormous in size. - Millet (1,331-)

http://johnpanza.googlepages.com/

Thanks to all for the responses to my inquiry about the giant lemon stump I got from a local Italian bakery. After showing some promising green "nubs" this spring, my lemon stalk has apparently died, so I will need to try again, this time with cuttings. I have cut the stump down to get rid of the dead wood and planted the bottom section just to make sure I can't coax some life out of what appears to be "dead wood." I tried a little rooting hormone gel on the stump this time, so we'll see -- I had one of these apparently dead stumps on a Ponderosa come to life once before, so maybe this one will have a similar rejuvenation -- it looks very doubtful, however. In the meantime, I can probably get some cuttings from the bakery lemon and try rooting them again. Unlike some other citron varieties I have had, this one doesn't seem to root readily. I have tried rooting cuttings in the past without much luck, but it was at the end of the fall, so perhaps this would be a better time to try.

You could always graft it onto one of your other trees.

That's a great idea -- I have tried grafting a few things but haven't had any luck yet. I think I need to get a sharper knife or use a razor blade and get the right type of tape. I have two citranges that are well established and could probably make excellent "hosts."

I don't know how hot it is up there in Conneticut, but if it is over 90, T-budding does not do well. Bark grafts (see Joe's tutorial) do pretty good when it is hot, but even better if your temps are in the 70s and 80s and bark grafts work well with a wide range of scion and stock sizes.