THE LYCHEE AND LUNGAN 



student of nature or not, can examine the litchi without admiring its 

 beauty and the sanitary method by which the fruit is preserved." 



Considerable effort has been made to introduce the lychee and 

 lungan into western countries. William Roxburgh (1759-1815) 1 

 reports, 'This very famous tree is now common in Bengal. It was 

 originally brought from China. " In the early partly of the 19th cent- 

 ury the lychee and lungan reached Europe. In the Transactions of 

 the Horticultural Society of London 2 is recorded, "Two species of 

 Dinwcarpus have been introduced into our gardens: the D. Litchi. 

 and D. Longan. They are both natives, of the southern pa it of China, 

 where they are known as the Litchi, and the Long yen and much 

 cultivated; they have also been transferred thence to different places 

 in the East Indies. " The lychee reached Trinidad before 1880. ' 

 Florida grew the fruit as early as 1883 when Robert Manning said, 

 " I tasted it and found the flavor excellent." 



Since the year 1907 the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant 

 Introduction of the United States Department of Agriculture has run a 

 special project to introduce the lychee into culture and since that time 

 it has been carefully studied at home and abroad and information re- 

 garding it has been assembled. In 1911 a tree at Santa Barbara, Cali- 

 fornia, bloomed but failed to carry its fruits to -maturity. In 1914 it 

 fruited. In July, 1916, trees which had been sent to Reasoner 

 Brothers of Oneco, Florida, by the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant 

 Introduction, bore fruit of exceptionally fine quality. 



Many problems are involved in the successful introduction of 

 the lychee and lungan into other lands. The climate and soils best 

 adpated to their successful culture must first be studied in their native 

 home. The tendancy of these fruits to variation, and their ready 

 response to culture, is evident from the large number of varieties 

 which have been carefully listed by the Chinese in both literature and 

 commerce. A study of these varieties reveals a marked range in earli- 

 ness, hardiness, productivity, color, size of fruit and seed; and in 



1 ROXBURGH, WILLIAM, in Flora Indica or Descriptions of Indian 

 Plants, Vol. II, page 269. 



Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, ?d Edition, Vol. II, 

 pages 402 and 403". 



3 TRINIDAD, BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT, Bulletin of Miscellaneous In- 

 formation (Quarterly), January 1907, No. 53, page 177. 



4 CORSA, W. P. , Nut culture in the United States, embracing native and 

 introduced species, U. S. Department of Aijri- ultur- 1 . Division of 

 Pomology, pujfe 105. 



