A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Lemon & orange id

Sorry - this is another question linked to my earlier post below. Basically, I wonder if there is any way to tell the difference between a little lemon plant and a little orange plant? They both look identical to me! Inspired by the recent post on talking to plants, I asked them direct but they refuse to answer my questions and remain stubbornly, steadfastly silent!!
Any clues or do i have to wait until they do eventually fruit to tell them apart?

I remember the lemon leaves to be shinier and more compact than an orange tree. The orange tree have wider leaves. But then again you have a little tree, so i dont know if a little tree would have the exact same characteristics as a regular one. Have you tried crushing and sniffing one leave of each? :)

Take a look at the leaf blade shape.

both blades are elliptical in shape.

lemon leaves have toothed margins [edges][no stipules]

orange leaves have stipules [tiny leaf structure at the base of the petiole. Petiole is the part of the leaf that connects the leaf blade to the stem.]

Thanks Dulcimie & Papito! I'll have a look at them when I go back into the office tomorrow and do as you suggest.

Well, I did my tests today as suggested. The visual tests were inconclusive – their leaves are roughly the same size, they both appear to have tiny stipule-like structures (but not on all their petiole bases) and neither have toothed margins (!?) One plant has at least a couple of little spiky thorns.
But the crush & sniff test was conclusive! The one with the tiny spikes is definitely a lemon (and what a strong smell too!). The other has an orangey smell, but far less pronounced.
The lemon appears to be growing much faster than his cousin (three new leaves in the last few days compared to two).

So, I think I now know which is which. Thanks!