Preferred cousin to the lychee Longan, or Dragon's Eye

摘要

The longan or dragon's eye, Dimocarpus longan, is a more temperate relative of the glamorous lychee, Litchi chinensis. Many Chinese prefer longan to lychee because it has a distinctive musky flavor and is not overly sweet. The longan tree is particularly better adapted to California than the lychee, since it is more frost tolerant: to 22F. The longan is round and smaller than the lychee. Its dark tan outer shell is relatively smooth. The aril surrounds a (usually) single large brown seed. The fruitsare available fresh, frozen, canned and dried. Longans have less finicky fruiting habits than lychee. Propagation is relatively difficult since marcottage must be used—inducing a branch to root while still attached to the parent plant. Market demand exists in the Asian community for the fresh fruit which is available only in limited quantities, if at all.