2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Lychee (lat. Litchi chinensis) Is a flowering fruit tree belonging to the Sapindovye family.
History
In the II century. BC NS. The ancient Chinese ate lychees with great pleasure. According to one of the many legends, Wu Di, the great Chinese emperor, was very annoyed and angry at the failed attempt to cultivate this southern Chinese plant in northern China, as a result of which all the gardeners were executed.
After a while, lychees began to be cultivated in neighboring states. And now in Southeast Asia, it is one of the most popular fruits.
In Europe, the first mention of lychee dates back to the middle of the 17th century. And the Chinese plum, a wonderful fruit, began to be called thanks to Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza, who noted that this fruit resembles a plum that is absolutely not burdensome for the stomach, which can be consumed in absolutely any quantities.
Description
Lychee is an evergreen tree with a rather spreading chic crown, the height of which reaches from ten to thirty meters (on average, fifteen meters).
Paired-pinnate (occasionally they can also be pinnate) compound leaves are formed by four to eight leaves with pointed tips, which are distinguished by a lanceolate or elongated ovoid shape. On the upper sides, the entire leaf blades are painted in dark green tones and shine, and they are usually grayish-green below.
Equipped with greenish or pale yellowish cups, lychee flowers are devoid of petals and are collected in incredibly lush and amazingly beautiful umbrella-shaped inflorescences, each of which can reach a length of seventy centimeters. Moreover, most of the flowers from each inflorescence almost always crumble, and only from three to fifteen fruits develop from the remaining flowers.
The oval fruits of this culture are characterized by relatively small sizes: their length ranges from two and a half to four centimeters. The red skin of these fruits is densely dotted with numerous pointed tubercles, and the jelly-like light pulp of the fruit is effortlessly separated from the peel and has a pleasant sweetish taste with an unobtrusive wine tint. The whimsical fruits of lychee are lightly knitted and vaguely resemble the well-known grapes in taste. And in the very center of each fruit, you can find an oval dark brownish bone.
In the subtropical zone, lychee is usually harvested in May or June.
Application
Lychee fruits are most often eaten fresh or all kinds of sweet dishes are prepared from them (delicious ice cream, jelly, etc.). And peeled fruits, preserved with sugar, are currently exported to most countries in the world. However, sometimes this fruit is also used for the production of traditional Chinese wine.
In addition, whole fruits are also dried - their skin in this case becomes quite hard, and inside all dried lychees, dried pulp with a bone easily moves. By the way, these interesting fruits are often called lychee nuts.
Lychee fruits are very rich in vitamin C, as well as valuable pectin substances and even carbohydrates. Also, this fruit contains an impressive amount of vitamin PP (that is, niacin), which actively prevents the development of atherosclerosis.
These fruits are also popular in folk medicine - they perfectly help with coughing and with a strong increase in the glands. In India, powdered lychee seeds are used for various intestinal problems, and in China, the seeds of these bizarre fruits are used as a pain reliever, as well as for various kinds of neuralgia.
Growing
Lychee grows best in subtropical climates with very cool and fairly dry winters. And in the equatorial, more humid climate, they usually do not bear fruit. This plant should be planted on fertile and thoroughly moist soils, and lychee propagation occurs either vegetatively or with the help of seedlings. All trees are characterized by extremely slow growth, while the seedlings begin to bear fruit only in the eighth or tenth year, and if reproduction took place vegetatively, then after four to six years.
