Persian Lime

Also called Tahiti lime or Bearss lime, Persian lime is itself believed to be a hybrid, likely of Key lime and a lemon or citron relative, and its exact origins are genuinely murky. Botanists have proposed two competing accounts: one holding it spread to the West via Persia (hence the name, though it was apparently never cultivated in Persia itself in any documented way), the other suggesting it originated in Southeast Asia and reached California by way of Tahiti. Its American commercial name, Bearss, comes from a Tahitian lime grown at a California nursery belonging to J.T. Bearss starting in 1895. It became the dominant commercial lime worldwide specifically because it is seedless, larger, and considerably more cold- and shipping-tolerant than Key lime, effectively displacing Key lime in most American supermarkets after Florida growers switched varieties following the 1926 hurricane that destroyed the state's Key lime groves.