Fruit of the day: Name that citrus

We quite often play a game called "name that citrus". Well, technically, Jonathan plays it the most, and he usually calls it, "Could this be a lime?"

We are blessed here with lots of great tropical fruits. The main citrus available are limes, and several varieties of oranges. The problem is--sometimes we can't tell them apart. The word in Spanish typically translated "lime" is "limón" (sounds roughly like lemon). That is also a reasonable translation for lemon. But there aren't any lemons here. Everybody who visits asks me why--but I don't know. There just aren't. 

Now you should know, Jonathan loooooves him some limes--in his drinks, on his chicken, all over a taco--if you squeeze lime on it he will probably eat it. So he frequently goes out to buy small, round green citrus fruit, which sometimes turn out to be limes, and sometimes are orange inside and very bitter. 

roll the dice...will it be a lime?

or one of these?

I always ask the market vendors what they call them. I always ask what color they will be inside. I still never have any idea what I am buying. I have heard these called "limón agrios" which translates "citrus limes" or "sour limes". I have also heard them called beer limes. I have heard them called sour oranges. 

Jonathan calls them junk. He is not a fan.

So to turn up the confusion level, a friend gave me a giant citrus-y thing she found while visiting friends in the mountains. Our best guess was that it must be a grapefruit, mainly based on its size.

I did my best to check around for the internet's opinion of what this big citrus-y thing might be, but didn't find any conclusive evidence. It still seemed too oblong to be a grapefruit, but I couldn't find anything else that quite fit. It was obviously citrus--and had a very spine-y stem. It was ripening from mottled green to a brighter and brighter yellow. 

Once I got it open so I could taste it--I was even more confused. Definitely not a grapefruit. 

Objectivity was what was needed. It was time for a blind poll. So I took little chunks, warned people that what there were about to eat was sour and that they should tell me what it was. 

The results? 100% said "lemon". 

And after checking around, it seems they may be right. Giant Ponderosa Lemon

So I guess we do have lemons in Nicaragua after all. Just really really giant ones.  

P.S. If any of you are friends with a botanist--I could really use some tutoring.