🌳 Litchi Plant Description (Litchi chinensis)

The litchi (also spelled lychee) is a tropical and subtropical fruit tree known for its sweet, aromatic fruit. Native to Southern China, it is widely cultivated in India, Thailand, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia, as well as in Africa and the Americas.

🔍 Scientific Classification:

Common Name: Litchi / Lychee

Scientific Name: Litchi chinensis

Family: Sapindaceae (Soapberry family)

Related to: Longan (Dimocarpus longan) and Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum)

🌿 Plant Description:
🌱 Growth Habit:

Litchi is a medium-sized evergreen tree.

Grows to a height of 10–12 meters (sometimes up to 20 m under natural conditions).

Has a dense, rounded canopy and often a short trunk with many spreading branches.

🍃 Leaves:

Leaves are pinnately compound, typically with 4–8 leaflets.

Leaflets are lance-shaped, leathery, and dark green on top with a lighter underside.

The leaves are glossy, giving the tree a lush appearance year-round.

🌸 Flowers:

Small, greenish-white to yellow flowers grow in panicles (large, branched flower clusters).

Litchi is monoecious – male and female flowers are borne on the same plant but in separate flowers.

Flowers bloom in late winter to early spring, depending on climate.

🍓 Fruits:

Fruit is a round or oval drupe, about 2.5–4 cm in diameter.

Outer skin is rough, bumpy, and pink to red when ripe.

The skin is thin and brittle, easily peeled.

Flesh is translucent white, juicy, and sweet with a floral fragrance.

Each fruit contains a single, smooth, shiny brown seed.

Litchis do not ripen after harvest and must be picked when mature.

🌍 Climate and Growing Conditions:

Prefers warm, humid subtropical climates.

Requires cool, dry winters and hot, wet summers.

Sensitive to frost and wind.

Best grown in well-drained, slightly acidic soil.

Grows best in USDA zones 10–11 or similar climates.

🌱 Propagation:

Common methods: air layering (most popular), grafting, or cuttings.

Propagation from seed is rare because seed-grown trees may not produce true-to-type fruit and take 8+ years to fruit.

Air-layered trees may bear fruit in 3–5 years.

🍽️ Uses:

Eaten fresh, canned, or dried (dried litchi is called "litchi nut").

Used in juices, desserts, cocktails, and salads.

Rich in vitamin C, antioxidants, and beneficial plant compounds.

Litchi fruit is also used in traditional Chinese medicine.

⚠️ Important Notes:

Litchi contains a natural compound (hypoglycin A and MCPG) in unripe fruit, which can cause toxicity if consumed in large amounts on an empty stomach, especially by malnourished children (rare and mostly reported in some regions like India).