LYCHEE, WONDERFUL TREE IN MY ORCHARD

Photo by www.lycheesonline.com

Refreshing shadow!

Photo by Sonia de Amorim Mascaro

Flora and Fruits

Photo by Sonia de Amorim Mascaro

Photo by Sonia de Amorim Mascaro

I have in my orchard many fruit trees. First of all I will exhibit my gorgeous Lychee tree. The Lychee tree was a gift from our friend many years ago. We have two handsome and dense trees in our orchard. Every year, in December, we are blessed by its delicious fruits. Once you peel the skin off, the juicy flesh is white or pinkish, translucent and glossy like the consistency of a grape, but the taste is sweeter. “Lychees have a sub acid sweet taste and have a wonderful freshness to them that is hard to describe. Lychee fruit is high in the antioxidant Vitamin C and the essential mineral Potassium.”

Origin: “Lychee (lē'chē) , originated over 2000 years ago, is a Chinese tree (Litchi chinensis) of the family Sapindaceae (soapberry family), having a small, aromatic, pulpy fruit in a thin, rough shell. The lychee is native to low elevations of the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien in southern China, where it flourishes especially along rivers and near the seacoast. It is the best-known Chinese fruit and a favorite with the Chinese, who use it fresh, dried, or preserved. The tree is now grown in other warm countries. Among variant spellings are leechee, lichee, and lychee. Litchis are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Sapindaceae”.

Description: The Lychee trees are beautiful hardwoods that can grow 20 to 40 feet tall in a primarily dome shaped habit of growth with dense, evergreen leaves. “The Lychee is, all over the world, considered as the "queen of the fruits" due to the delicacy of its appearance and flavor. Although it was only recently that it started to have economical importance in Brazil, the Lychee is already calling the attention of numerous farmers, mainly those who cultivate citric fruits and/or sugarcane in the State of São Paulo.”


Propagation: “Lychee propagation from seed is unsatisfactory because cultivars do not reproduce true from seed. Seedling trees often take 10 years or more to come into bearing. Lychee seeds are short-lived, losing viability after a few days, and are best planted fresh from the fruit. They should not be refrigerated, because this rapidly destroys viability. The most common method of propagating lychee is air-layering, a technique for inducing a branch to form roots while still attached to the tree, after which it is removed and planted. Air-layering is done when leaves of the previous growth flush have matured. Air-layered trees usually take three to five years from planting to become established and begin bearing.”

Adaptation: “Lychees require seasonal temperature variations for best flowering and fruiting. Warm, humid summers are best for flowering and fruit development, and a certain amount of winter chilling is necessary for flower bud development. Lychees need full sun, but young trees must be protected from heat, frost and high winds.”

In my next post, I will introduce my beautiful Jaboticaba tree, native to the Minas Gerais, region of Brazil. The delicious Jaboticaba is perhaps the most popular native fruit-bearers of Brazil.