but only after steaming. The taste is sweet and the nature hot. 
When eaten raw, it causes one to go mad or see devils.”’ 
The botanical identity of this plant has never been positively 
made. The description is too meager for a definitive determina- 
tion. Judging from the reference given to its characters as 
intermediate between Lychee, Litchi chinensis Sonn. and 
Longan, Euphoria longan (Lour.) Steud. and its geographical 
occurrence, the plant in question must be a variation of either 
one of these two species or a species of one closely related 
genus in the Sapindaceae that grows in the southernmost part 
of China. 
Euphoria longan and Litchi chinensis, two well-known fruits 
of southern China, are unique fruits in that the edible part is the 
fleshy aril of the single seed. They are the only species of their 
respective genus that are native to China. Euphoria contains 
about 10 species distributed in southern Asia and Litchi two 
species, the other being known to the Philippines only. 
In all probability, the plant in question is a species of the 
genus Nephelium, which is closely related to these two genera, 
especially in having arillate seeds. Some botanists regard 
Euphoria and Litchi as congeneric with Nephelium. Stuart 
(1911), who considers Nephelium in this broad sense, regards 
Lung-li as Nephelium sp. Nephelium sens. str. differs from 
the other two primarily in the aril being united with the seed 
coat while it is distinct in Euphoria and Litchi. There are two 
species in southern China; N. lappaceum L., a species of 
tropical Asia that is cultivated in the southernmost part of 
K wangtung and the Hainan Island as a fruit tree, and N. topen- 
gu (Merr.) H.S. Lo (N. lappaceum L. var. topengii (Merr.) 
How et Ho) (Kwangtung Bot. Inst. 1974) native to Hainan, 
Kwangtung, Kwangsi and Yunnan. The tree, growing in the 
forests, has a fruit that is edible but the seed is known to be 
poisonous (Kwangtung Bot. Inst. 1974). Thus it is quite possi- 
ble that this is the species in question, especially as the un- 
ripened fruit is mentioned as being toxic. However, among the 
several vernacular names of the species known locally, there is 
no record of the name Lung-li. 
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