The Siracusa lemon (in Italian, Limone di Siracusa IGP) is the fruit of the cultivar "femminello" and its clones, corresponding to the botanical species Citrus x limon L. Burm. The femminello cultivar from Siracusa is the most common variety of lemon in Italy, and produces three main flowerings: the primofiore (from October 1), the bianchetto (also less commonly known as the maiolino, from April 15) and the verdello (or summer lemon, from July 1). The Disciplinary regulations of the Siracusa Lemon (PGI) forbids the use of waxes and/or fungicides in post-harvesting, and therefore the fruit is edible in all its parts. Origins The lemon plant originates in Burma, where it is found growing wild: from there it crossed the Middle East, Mesopotamia, and Syria (region), to the Mediterranean, where it found favorable conditions to thrive. The natural habitat of the lemon lies in a strip from the 40° parallel in the North to the 40° parallel in the South: this strip includes California, Uruguay, Argentina, South Africa and the Mediterranean basin, in particular Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey. In the Fifteenth and Sixteenth centuries, when there was an aristocratic monopoly on citrus growing, the use of lemons was confined to luxury foods. It began to be cultivated more intensively in Siracusa from the early seventeenth century, through the work of the Jesuits who were competent growers. The lemon went on to become one of the principal sources of wealth in the region, reaching an output of around 11.500 tonnes in 1891. This success catalysed the birth in Sicily of various citrus related industries, which extracted juice concentrates, calcium citrate and the citric acid from the fruit. During this period the Siracusa lemon made a considerable fortune in foreign markets, especially in the United States and in England, as confirmed by records from the second half of the eighteenth century, held in Siracusa's Camera di Commercio e Arti (Chamber of Commerce and Arts). Records regarding shipments at the Port of Siracusa in the early nineteenth century indicate that the principal destinations for lemons, oranges, both sweet and bitter, concentrated lemon juice and calcium citrate were the ports of Trieste, London, Fiume, Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Malta and Odessa. Despite the urbanisation and industrialisation (see e.g. Augusta-Priolo) that occurred at the beginning of the post-war period, lemon growing was anything but abandoned in the Siracusa area, and still today continues to be a