Litchi chinensis, the tree of pink fruits

In the wild, litchi chinensis grows in China, Malaysia and Borneo. This member of the Sapindaceae family is also cultivated in India and Madagascar for its fruit, and in our latitudes as a houseplant.

Litchi chinensis is a fruit tree with a spreading, rounded habit. It can reach 20 meters in height when planted in the ground. In pots, it grows to no more than three meters.

A smooth gray bark envelops the irregularly surfaced trunk. It supports supple branches which, in winter, bend under the weight of fruit.

The alternate leaves are paripinnate, as in longanier (Dimocarpus longan). They are composed of an even number of leaflets (between six and eight). Oval or lanceolate, they measure between six and fifteen centimetres in length. The adult leaf blade is dark green with a varnish finish on the upper side and a grayish underside. Young shoots are red or bronze.

Thethyrseal inflorescence maybear several dozen flowers. Pinkish-white or greenish-white, they measure less than a centimetre.

Globular fruits appear in clusters. The three- to four-centimetre spheres are covered with tough, bumpy pink or red bark. Inside are white flesh and brown seeds.

The stone is poisonous, but the pulp is edible. As long as you don't abuse it. In fact, it contains several substances that impair glucose production. In India, hundreds of children have died from inflammation of the brain. They had eaten large quantities of lychees on an empty stomach.