[Arid_gardener] Meyer Lemons

[Tyler Storey]

Hi Marcene,
To answer your question:  No, yes, and sort of.  

No: Plain old Meyer Lemon is not legal in Arizona and hasn't been for awhile
because it carries the Tristeza virus, which can devastate citrus. Over the
course of years, millions of trees worldwide were lost to this disease. So
any tree that is the old Meyer Lemon is still illegal.

Yes: There is now a tree on the market called "Improved Meyer Lemon" and it
is legal for sale and planting in Arizona.  Buy and plant that and you are
in the clear.

Sort of: This is the kicker, which doesn't really matter to most of us, but
which I find interesting.  Despite being called "Improved," the new Meyer
Lemon is exactly the same as the old Meyer Lemon.  There is nothing
"improved" about it in the sense we usually think of as improved.  While
"improved" would seem to indicate resistance to the virus, that isn't the
case.  The only difference is that the trees labeled "Improved" have been
tested -- indexed is what they the process is called -- and determined to be
free of the virus and thus legal for import, sale and planting.  They can
still get the disease and spread it to other citrus, but, for now, they are
believed to be disease-free.  

So, if you do buy and plant a Meyer Lemon, do be certain that it is a
disease-free "improved" tree.

Thanks much,
Tyler

tyler at tylerstorey.com
http://tylerstorey.com
602-738-2978
-----Original Message-----
From: arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu
[mailto:arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of
chenrikson at qwest.net
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 6:29 PM
To: arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page

Marcene Henrikson
85021
chenrikson at qwest.net

Are Meyer Lemons now legal in AZ?


_______________________________________________
Arid_gardener mailing list
Arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
http://CALS.arizona.edu/mailman2/listinfo/arid_gardener
All contents copyright 2007. Arizona Board of Regents/University of Arizona