Description
Longan (scientific name: Dimocarpus longan Lour.) is a plant of the longan genus of the Sapindaceae family. Evergreen tree, usually more than 10 meters high; branchlets are stout, puberulent, and scattered with pale lenticels. The petiole is 15-30 cm or longer; 4-5 pairs of leaflets, thin leathery, oblong-elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, often asymmetrical on both sides; petiole length usually does not exceed 5 mm. The inflorescence is large and multi-branched; the pedicel is short; the sepals are nearly leathery, triangular-ovate; the petals are milky white, lanceolate, nearly as long as the sepals, only puberulent on the outside; the filaments are short bristles. The fruit is nearly spherical, usually yellow-brown or sometimes gray-yellow, with a slightly rough outside, or rarely with small convex tumors; the seeds are dark-brown, shiny, and all are wrapped in fleshy arils. Flowering in spring and summer, fruiting in summer.
Longan is native to southern China, distributed in Fujian, Taiwan, Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other provinces (regions), mainly produced in Fujian, Taiwan, and Guangxi. It grows in the south subtropical area, likes a warm and humid climate, can tolerate short-term frost, and will not freeze to death in a short period of time under low temperature conditions of 0-4°C.
The economic use is mainly fruit. Because its aril is rich in vitamins and phosphorus, it is beneficial to the spleen and brain, so it is also used as medicine; the seed contains starch, after proper treatment, it can be used for wine; the wood is firm, heavy and dark Reddish-brown, resistant to water and humidity, is an excellent material for shipbuilding, furniture, craftsmanship, etc.
