On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:49:31 +0100, Jack Campin - bogus address
> wrote:


>When I was a kid in New Zealand, there were two kinds of lemons,
>about equally common: "Mayer" lemons (with rather thin skin, about
>the size of a tennis ball) and "Lisbon" lemons (about the size of
>a baseball, with the extra volume occupied by pith). Lemons sold
>in the UK are variants of the Mayer type, I haven't seen a Lisbon
>for many years.
>
>I think the Mayer is relatively recent, so the 18th century one
>would probably have been closer to a Lisbon.

Isn't it Meyer? It is a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin
orange.

The other common varieties are Eureka lemons and Ponderosa Lemons. the
Ponderosa is a hybrid of lemon and citron.