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Backhousia citriodora
Also called Lemon Ironwood, Lemon Scent Backhousia, Lemon Scent Myrtle, Lemon Scent Verbena, Sweet Verbena Myrtle, Sweet Verbena Tree, Lemon Myrtle
Lemon myrtle is a Queensland rainforest shrub or small tree grown for its strong lemon scent in leaves and flowers, and used as a culinary herb. It is grown in warm climates and needs frost protection when young.
Backhousia citriodora, commonly known as lemon myrtle, lemon scented myrtle or lemon scented ironwood, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is native to the subtropical rainforests of central and south-eastern Queensland, Australia, with a natural distribution from Mackay to Brisbane.
Lemon myrtle is a cultivated ornamental plant. It can be grown from tropical to warm temperate climates, and may handle cooler districts provided it can be protected from frost when young. In cultivation it rarely exceeds about 5 metres (16 ft) and usually has a dense canopy. The principal attraction to gardeners is the lemon smell, which perfumes both the leaves and flowers of the tree. Lemon myrtle is a hardy plant, which tolerates all but the poorest drained soils. It can be slow growing but responds well to slow-release fertilisers.
Seedling lemon myrtle go through a shrubby, slow juvenile growth stage, before developing a dominant trunk. Lemon myrtle can also be propagated from cutting, but is slow to strike. A study into the plant growing adventitious roots found that "actively growing axillary buds, wide stems and mature leaves" are good indicators that a cutting will take root successfully and survive. A further study on temperature recommended glasshouses for growing cuttings throughout the year. Growing cuttings from mature trees bypasses the shrubby juvenile stage.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Backhousia citriodora by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
