LITCHI OR LYCHEE (also Leechee, Lichi) Revised 1999Litchi chinensis Sonn., family
Sapindaceae E. H. Erickson and A.
H. Atmowidjojo
The litchi, or lychee, tree is native to southern China and southeastern Asia. It has been widely cultivated for its prized
fruit since before 1766 BC and is the most important fruit plant in the Sapindaceae (Menzel, 1984). Lychee, one of the
most environmentally sensitive tropical tree fruit crops, is adapted to areas of the world characterized by warm
subtropics and elevated tropics having cool dry winters and warm wet summers (Menzel, 1991). China, India,
Southeast Asia, and South Africa are among the major producer countries. Smaller industries exist in the United
States and elsewhere (Menzel and Simpson, 1994). The fruit consists of a single seed covered by an agreeable
sweet•acid tasting, crisp, white, juicy, translucent aril or pulp, which is high in vitamin C. It may be eaten fresh,
frozen, canned in syrup, or dried to produce "litchi nuts." The trees make beautiful landscape specimens with their
dark green leaves and bright red fruit.
Plant:
The plant is a dense, symmetrical, oval evergreen tree with a dark brown, short, thick, trunk. Growth habit differs
considerably among cultivars: Trees may have erect or drooping branches and grow 20 (6) to more than 40 feet (12 m)
in height (Galan Sauco, 1989). Lychee trees can live for many years. Banta (1952) reported that two trees in China
were 1,200 years old, the largest being 10.5 feet (3.2 m) in diameter. Lychee thrives in subtropical climates in acidic
loamy soil with abundant moisture and well drained clay soils (Chia et. al., 1997). It will grow nearly anywhere citrus
will grow, but young plants are extremely sensitive to cold and require frost protection. Mature trees can tolerate a few
degrees of frost.
Commercial cultivars are geographically adapted and number over 100 world wide (Yokoyama et.al., 1991). Lychee
trees are polygamous and can be propagated by seed (rarely), grafting and air layering. Air layering is most preferred
because, like grafting, the trees thus produced are clones and begin to bear in from 3-5 years (Menzel, 1991). Well
managed mature lychee orchards, usually about 30 trees per acre (70 trees/ha), can produce as much as 8,000-12,000
lbs of fruit per acre (10-15 tonnes of fruit/ha) in a good year. Orchards are usually planted at a much higher density
and later thinned. Average yields per tree range from 22-174 lbs (10-80 kg) (Menzel, 1991). Banta (1952) reported
that a 4•year•old tree produced 2 to 3 lbs (0.9-1.4 kg) of fruit, while a 12•year•old tree yielded 308 lbs (140 kg).
The round fruit, a drupe about the size of a large strawberry, is pendant in a loose cluster of several dozen fruits up to
30 in (0.76 m) long (Cobin, 1952). The leathery skin is covered with sharp•tipped tubercles. The seeds are dark brown
(Menzel, 1991). The fruit must ripen on the tree, then is harvested over a 6•week period. The shelf life of the fresh
fruit is only 10 to 14 days (Menzel, 1991, Palmer, 1956).
Inflorescence:
Lychee flowers best with days below 68
o
F (20
o
C) (Crane et. al., 1998, Menzel et.al., 1988, Menzel and Simpson,
1992a). The inflorescence is determinant. Small 0.08-0.12 in (2 to 3 mm), white to greenish•yellow flowers are
produced on the current season=s wood in terminal clusters (panicles), (5-30 cm) in length. They are present from
mid•February through March in the northern hemisphere (mid-August-September in the southern hemisphere). The
flowers have a cup shaped calyx with 4-5 short sepals but no petals, about eight stamens, a two•lobed stigma, an ovary
on a short stalk, and one ovule in each of its two or three sections (carpels) (Galan Sauco, 1989, Menzel, 1991).
Butcher (1957a) distinguished three types of flowers that bloom in stages: Male or staminate flowers (M
1
) with no
functional ovaries bloom first; female or functionally pistillate flowers (F) with anthers that do not dehisce comprise
the second stage; and imperfect hermaphrodite flowers (M
2
), also lacking functional ovaries, bloom last (see also Stern
and Gazit, 1996). Each phase of bloom consists of flowers of the same type.
The onset and duration of anthesis is highly variable among cultivars (Menzel and Simpson, 1992b). Lychee flowers
open throughout the day but mostly before 0600 h. Anther dehiscence occurs on day 2-5 and continues more or less
throughout the day and night, but reaches its zenith around 10 a.m. The fruit bearing flowers in at least one cultivar
(Mauritius) studied are normally receptive on days 2-5 following anthesis, although the bloom period may be