Lychee (US: LEE-chee; UK: LIE-chee; Litchi chinensis; Chinese: 荔枝; pinyin: lìzhī) is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.
It is a tropical tree native to the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of China, where cultivation is documented from 1059 AD. China is the main producer of lychees, followed by India, other countries in Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and South Africa. A tall evergreen tree, the lychee bears small fleshy fruits. The outside of the fruit is pink - red, roughly textured and inedible, covering sweet flesh eaten in many different dessert dishes.
Lychee seeds contain methylenecyclopropylglycine which can cause hypoglycemia associated with outbreaks of encephalopathy in undernourished Indian and Vietnamese children who had consumed lychee fruit.
Taxonomy
Litchi chinensis is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.
It was described and named by French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in his account "Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine, fait depuis 1774 jusqu'à 1781" ( translation : "Voyage to the East Indies and China, made between 1774 and 1781"), which was published in 1782. There are three subspecies, determined by flower arrangement, twig thickness, fruit, and number of stamens.
Litchi chinensis subsp. chinensis is the only commercialized lychee.
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