Knight's, of Lee Castle, near Kidderminster, in the year 
1816. Specimens were sent to the Horticultural Society, in 
whose Transactions the following account was soon after 
published, with a figure of the fruit : 
““ Two species of Dimocarpus have been introduced into 
our gardens: the D. Litchi, and D. Longan. They are 
both natives of the southern part of China, where they are 
known as the Zi-tchiand the Long-yen, and much cultivated ; 
they have also been transplanted thence to different places 
in the East Indies. The present is believed to be the only 
instance of the fruit having been brought to maturity, in 
Europe; and persons who were well acguainted with it in 
its native places of growth, pronounced these specimens 
guite as good as those grown within or near the tropics. 
The Li-tchi is most esteemed by Europeans: the Chinese 
prefer the Long-yen, considering it to possess medicinal pro- 
perties as a stomachic. Both species are trees, and many 
varieties of each are cultivated in China, differing in the 
quality of the flesh, the time of ripening, and in the shape of 
the fruit, some being nearly globular, some heart-shaped, 
and others oblong, but not varying much in size. The Li- 
tchi fruits are, however, generally the largest, and are of a 
red colour, when ripe, excepting in one variety, in which 
the coat remains green. The small scutiform processes, on 
the coat of the fruit, in the Li-tchi, are more sharp, or 
pointed, than those of the Long-yen. The fruit of the 
latter is uniformly of a light brown colour. In both species 
the pulp is surrounded with a tough, thin, leathery coat; it 
is a colourless semi-transparent substance, in the centre of 
which is a dark brown seed, of different sizes, in the different 
