Lemons entered Europe near southern Italy no later than the first century AD, during the time of Ancient Rome.[1] However, they were not widely cultivated. They were later introduced to Persia and then to Iraq and Egypt around 700 AD.[1] The lemon was first recorded in literature in a 10th-century Arabic treatise on farming, and was also used as an ornamental plant in early Islamic gardens.[1] It was distributed widely throughout the Arab world and the Mediterranean region between 1000 and 1150.