Limau Purut (Kaffir Lime)

Citrus hystrix

Family: Rutaceae

Citrus hystrix, called the kaffir lime or makrut lime, is a citrus fruit native to tropical Southeast Asia. Its fruit and leaves are used in Southeast Asian cuisine, and its essential oil is used in perfumery. Its rind and crushed leaves emit an intense citrus fragrance.

In the 1888 book The Cultivated Oranges, Lemons Etc. of India and Ceylon by Emanuel Bonavia, who notes, the plantation workers also smear it over their feet and legs, to keep off land leeches; therefore, in Ceylon [Sri Lanka] it has also got the name of Kudalu dchi, or Leech Lime. Europeans call it Caffre Lime.