Citron
A source of confusion is that "citron" or similar words in French (and other languages), and English are false friends, as they refer to the lemon. Indeed, into the 16th century, the English name "citron" included the lemon and perhaps the lime as well.
Citron
The citron is thought to have been native to India, in valleys at the foothills of the eastern Himalayas. It is thought that by the 4th century BC, when Theophrastus mentions the "Persian or Median apple", the citron was mostly cultivated in the Persian Gulf on its way to the Mediterranean basin, where it was cultivated during the later centuries in different areas as described by Erich Isaac. Many mention the role of Alexander the Great and his armies as they attacked Persia and what is today Pakistan, as being responsible for the spread of the citron westward, reaching the European countries such as Greece and Italy.