THE LYCHEE IN FLORIDA 9 
THE MARKET FOR FRESH LYCHEES 
Up to and including 1947 Chinese-American merchants in 
our cities took most of the American fresh fruit production 
of Lychees. Americans are just as fond of the fruit as are 
the Chinese and are eager customers. 
Since 1948 the fresh fruit has been selling wholesale as 
high as $1.25 per pound in small cartons, F.O.B. production 
points. The excellence of the fruit and consequent great and 
increasing demand for it, the limited areas in the world as 
well as local in which the Lychee will fruit, plus the neces- 
sarily slow method of propagating the trees should continue to 
keep the prices high. 
The fresh ripe Lychees hold on the tree for ten days to 
two weeks. They should be marketed within a few days after 
picking (unless kept under refrigeration) to retain the bright 
red color. Even under refrigeration they will retain the 
bright color only about three weeks. If properly managed, 
the demand for the fresh fruit at profitable prices, will for 
many years be greater than can be supplied. 
AVAILABLE LYCHEE LAND 
The Ridge district of Florida is a strip of fairly high roll- 
ing land running north and south through Central Florida. It 
is in the heart of the citrus belt. The section from about Haines 
City to Lake Placid is considered to be excellent for commer- 
cial Lychee planting. It is the home of a number of fruiting 
Lychee trees that have gone through the occasional freezes 
with little or no harm, even though they have had no special 
care. It is the home of two of the finest Lychee trees in 
Florida. Each has a spread of more than forty feet and each 
usually produces up to three hundred pounds or more of fresh 
Lychees of superior quality. One of these trees, 28 years old, 
and still growing rapidly has produced 400 pounds. That 
section is fairly free from heavy freezes and yet has sufficient 
cold weather to provide a dormant period for the Lychee. 
Most of it has sufficient depth of soil to afford secure root 
growth. There are also good Lychee locations in Pinellas, 
Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier 
counties on the west coast and from Titusville to Homestead 
on the east coast. The northern limits of the Lychee in 
Florida have not been definitely established. This will have 
to be determined by experience. At present it is considered to 
be about a line through Leesburg and Sanford. 
Much of the land on the lower east coast is apparently 
not as well adapted to the purpose as the ridge and west 
coast districts, although there are bearing Lychee trees in 
that area. Careful search will doubtless discover suitable 
land there for commercial planting. 
