Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Litchi chinensis - Litchi, Lychee
Edible Portion: Fruit, Aril
A medium sized evergreen tree. It grows up to 15 m tall but can be 35 m tall. It has a dense round crown. The trunk is smooth and grey with brittle trunk and branches. The trunk can be 1 m across. Leaves are shiny and light green. The leaves are reddish when young. They are leathery and divided into 4-8 leaflets. The leaflets are oval and taper to the tip. The flowers are pale green and in loosely branched groups at the ends of branches. It bears bunches of rough skinned pinkish fruit 3-4 cm across. These droop in clusters. There are 3 subspecies ssp. chinensis, ssp. philippinensis, ssp. javensis. There are many cultivated varieties.