Lisbon Lemon

UCR describes Lisbon as Portuguese in origin and says it is believed to be a selection from the Gallego seedling clonal group. This is a group-level historical account; it does not identify a particular parent tree or prove an accession-level lineage. UCR also reports that a Portugal selection grown in Morocco and Algeria is said to be indistinguishable from Lisbon introduced from California.^⁠[1]

UCR traces Lisbon’s California introduction to J. L. L. F. Warren, who brought material from Massachusetts in 1849 or soon after. Warren and Sons listed it in Sacramento by 1853, and Warren’s Nonantum Vale catalog listed it by 1843. The UCR account also reports that budwood from an old Lisbon tree in Alameda was sent to S. P. Stowe in Goleta in 1883.^⁠[1]

UCR reports that Lisbon had been introduced to Australia by 1824. It records two later California importations: S. P. Stowe shared his 1874 import with Thomas A. Garey, and J. W. North received trees in 1875 and transferred them to D. N. Burnham.^⁠[1]

The UCR cultivar account says Lisbon’s vigor, hardiness and productivity helped establish its popularity in California’s interior districts, with Eureka a principal rival in coastal districts. This is a historical account, not a current production ranking.^⁠[1]

The general UCR Lisbon profile describes medium elliptical-to-oblong fruit with a prominent nipple, usually few seeds, yellow color at maturity, a medium-thick adherent rind, about 10 segments and a small solid core. It describes the pale greenish-yellow flesh as fine-grained, tender and juicy, calls the flavor “very acid,” and says the main crop comes in winter and early spring.^⁠[1]

Hodgson’s 1967 account describes Lisbon as vigorous, upright-spreading, large, thorny and densely foliated, and calls it productive. It characterizes Lisbon as resistant to frost, heat, wind and neglect; this is a qualitative historical description, with no measured threshold reported.^⁠[1]