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 Z)imocarpzfs have been introduced into 

 our gardens : the D. LitcM, and D. Longan. They are 

 both natives of the southern part of China, where they are 

 known as the Li-tchi and 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 acquainted with it in 

 its native places of growth, pronounced these specimens 

 quite 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 



