This note to just to inform you of the important publication de Wan Shuan-Lee et al. in Resources (Jan. 2025). It involves sequencing the plastome (chloroplast DNA that is genetically semi-autonomous unlike nuclear DNA).
The authors give a new phylogeny: “Citrus hystrix is closely related to C. aurantiifolia and is placed under the same clade as C. micrantha.” The authors recall that C. aurantiifolia is a natural hybrid species between C. micrantha (female parent) and C. medica (male parent). Mabberley proposed 2 years ago that C. micrantha become a synonym of C. hystrix. Something already proposed by Froelicher in 2011.
See the page https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_micrantha (just translate the french Wikipedia page) for the description of C. micrantha which are wild Filipino citrus fruits whose essential oil is close to that of kaffir limes. Proximity to a wild plant is very often a sign of a high diversity of bioactive components.
Hélas les différents variants sauvages ne sont pas diffusés, en premier lieu Samuyao (qu’Eisenhut confond avec Biasong)
Unfortunately the different wild variants are not commonly propagated, especially Samuyao (which Eisenhut confuses with Biasong)
So here’s an interesting project for 2025. Happy New Year!
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