Bio Diversity Park

Common Name : Lychee, Litchi

Hindi Name : लीची | Scientific Name : Litchi chinensis
Family : Sapindaceae
Uses : The white, translucent fleshy arils are sweet, juicy and subacid, with a delicious flavour that is somewhat reminiscent of Muscat grapes. Much eaten raw, they can also be dried, spiced, pickled, canned in syrup, used in jams, sauces, ice creams, fruit salads etc. The dried fruits, called lychee nuts, have a distinctive smoky flavour and are widely eaten in China. Rich in vitamin C. The fruit, its peel and the seed are used in traditional medicine; decoctions of the root, bark and flowers are used as a gargle to alleviate throat ailments. The fruit peel is used in the treatment of diarrhoea. Seeds are used as an anodyne in neuralgic disorders and orchitis. The tree is sometimes grown to provide shade. The bark contains tannin. The wood is very durable and is said to be nearly indestructible, although it is brittle and has few uses.
Native: South East China to Malesia and New Guinea
General Description:

The tree is dense, round-topped, slow-growing, 30-100 ft tall high and equally broad. Its evergreen leaves, 5-8 in. long, are pinnate, having 4-8 alternate, elliptic-oblong to lance-shaped, abruptly pointed, leaflets. Leaflets are somewhat leathery, smooth, glossy, dark-green on the upper surface and grayish-green beneath, 2-3 in. long. Tiny petal-less, greenish-white to yellowish flowers are borne in clusters up to 30 in. long, at the end of branches. Fruits are showy, borne in loose, hanging clusters of 2-30 strawberry-red, rose, pinkish or amber round balls, tinged with green. Most are aromatic, oval, heart-shaped or nearly round, about 1 in wide and 1.5 in. long. Fruits have a thin, leathery, rough or minutely warty skin, flexible and easily peeled when fresh. Immediately beneath the skin of some varieties is a small amount of clear, delicious juice. The glossy, succulent, thick, translucent-white to grayish or pinkish fleshy aril which usually separates readily from the seed. It is widely cultivated in India.