Lychee Litchi chinensis, Nephelium litchi Originally from China and a member of the family which includes the rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) and longan (Dimocarpus longan), the fruit takes its name from the original Chinese name, li chih and can be spelt lichee and litchi. The fruit has been cultivated and treasured in the tropical and warmer sub-tropical regions of its home country for about 2,000 years. The fruit was considered a delicacy in the northern regions and there was even a special ‘pony express’, instituted in the 1st century AD, to bring lychees to the imperial court. The exiled poet, Su Tung-po was said to have eaten 300 lychees a day, and stated that the fruit would reconcile one to eternal banishment and, during the Sung Dynasty (AD960-1279), there was special Treatise written, emphasising the importance of the fruit. The greatest challenge that the lychee posed to early travellers was a description of its exotic appearance and taste to a public that would, in all probability, never see or eat one. In 1684 Vaertijn preferred to not even try, describing it simply as a ‘Chinese Chestnut’. In 1824 Bishop Heber proffered the admirable “a sort of plum, with the flavour of a Frontignac grape”, whilst a gardener from the same period liberally daubs on the purple prose with, “the lichi, hiding under a shell of ruddy brown its globes of translucent and delicately flavoured flesh.” Today, lychees are grown throughout the Eastern tropics, in a band which includes Thailand, Bangladesh and Bihar, Northern India and, in the West, Hawaii and Florida. South Africa is also a major grower. Most of the fruit consumed in this country are canned, but fresh lychees are increasingly available, from November to January. The longan is slightly smaller and paler than the lychee with the same translucent flesh which surrounds a large, shiny black seed, earning it the metaphoric name, Dragon’s Eye. Their Malaysian cousin, the rambutan takes its name from the Malay word for hair, rambut because of the long, hair-like spines which grow from its skin. All members of the family are good to rich sources of vitamin C.