"c. aurantiifolia" originally came from southeast asia. it was introduced through the middle east to north africa and europe during the crusades. spanish explorers then took it to the west indies (at some point including the florida keys) contemporaneously with columbus, then tropical and sub-tropical north america including mexico, florida, and later california . the english name "lime" was derived from the persian name لیمو "limu" in this course. "key" would seem to have been added sometime after the persian lime cultivar became more important commercially in the united states. this was after the hurricane of 1926. the hurricane destroyed most u.s. "c. aurantiifolia" plants. some plants growing in the wild in the keys survived the hurricane. since the north american free trade agreement came into effect, many key limes are grown in mexico and central america. they are also grown in texas and california.