about the consistency of a Muscat grape. Its delicious flavor makes 
the litchi highly prized by those who are familiar with it. In Hono- 
lulu the limited crop is retailed at prices ranging from 50 to 75 cents 
per pound (PL I, fig. 2). Borne in clusters (PL II) on medium- 
sized trees with dark-green foliage, these fruits usually mature about 
May or June in Hawaii. Like the banana and pineapple, the litchi 
is practically immune to the attacks of the Mediterranean fruit fly, 
and as it stands shipment well, it is peculiarly a commercial fruit. 
Because of the desirability of increasing greatly the cultivation 
of the litchi in Hawaii and because of the newly awakened interest 
in its cultivation elsewhere, certain experiments have been con- 
ducted at the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station which, 
together with valuable data gathered from growers here and abroad, 
are reported in this bulletin. 
COMMON NAMES OF THE FRUIT. 
The name of the fruit appears in many forms as " litchi/' " lichee," 
"li tehee," "li chee," "leechee," etc. Most of these are presumably 
attempts at a form which represents the sound of the Chinese name, 
but none of them quite appears to have succeeded. The sound, as 
nearly as it may be represented in the English language, may be 
indicated by "ly-chee,".with about equal stress on each part of the 
word. But since the form " litchi" is fixed definitely as a part of 
the botanical name of the tree (see p. 3), since it accurately repre- 
sents the sound if the first "i" be marked long and the second short, 
and since this form probably is used as frequently as any other, it 
seems desirable that it should be adopted as the common name and 
that the others should be discarded. 
HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION. 
References to the litchi occur in Chinese writings produced long 
before the beginning of the Christian era. Though it seems im- 
possible to determine when this fruit was first brought under cultiva- 
tion, it is very generally admitted that it is native to south China. 
De Candolle states that "it does not seem that any botanist has 
found it in a truly wild state," 1 and suggests that this may be due to 
the fact that the southern part of China toward Siam has been little 
visited by botanists. Long since introduced into India, Ceylon, and 
other parts of the Orient, the litchi now extends to southern Japan, 
Formosa, Australia, and Mauritius. In comparatively recent years, 
it has found its way into the Western Hemisphere and is grown in 
Brazil and in some of the West Indies, though in the latter region 
it is rare. 
i Origin of Cultivated Plants, London, 1884, p. 315. 
