LONGAN

DIMOCARPUS LONGAN

Glasgow Rd Jang Gong Si, Zhang Zhou, China

The longan (simplified Chinese: 龙眼 ; traditional Chinese: 龍眼 ; pinyin: lóngyǎn; Cantonese Yale: lung ngaan; literally "dragon eye"; Thai ลำ�ไย; is a tropical tree native to southern China. It is also found in Southeast Asia. It is also called guiyuan (桂圓) in Chinese, Ash-fol (আঁশফল) in Bengali, lengkeng in Indonesia, mata kucing (literally "cat's eye") in Malaysia, nhãn in Vietnamese (The Species: Euphoria longana Lamk. named "long nhãn" in Vietnamese- literally "dragon's eyes"), Mora in Sinhalese (Sri Lanka) and also "longan" in Tagalog.

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Family: Sapindaceae

Common Name: Longan, Lungen, Mata Kuching, Dragon's Eye

Synonym: Nephelium longana

Origin: S.E.A

Leaf Colour: Green

Flower Colour: White

Description

Form

The tree can grow up to 12 metres in height, and the plant is very sensitive to frost. Longan trees require sandy soil and temperatures that do not typically go below 4.5 degrees Celsius (40 degrees Fahrenheit). Longans and lychees bear fruit at around the same time of the year.

Leaves

Flowers

Fruit

The longan ("dragon eyes") is so named because of the fruit's resemblance to an eyeball when it is shelled (the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris). The seed is small, round and hard, and of an enamel-like, lacquered black. The fully ripened, freshly harvested shell is bark-like, thin, and firm, making the fruit easy to shell by squeezing the fruit out as if one is "cracking" a sunflower seed. When the shell has more moisture content and is more tender (due to either premature harvest, variety,

weather conditions, or transport/storage conditions), the fruit becomes less convenient to shell.

To express longan fruit, there is a Vietnamese riddle: Da cóc mà bọc bột lọc, bột lọc mà bọc hòn than (literally: Toad's skin covers tapioca flour, tapioca flour covers coal stone): toad's skin is the skin, tapioca flour is the clear white flesh and coal stone is the black seed.

The fruit is edible, extremely sweet, juicy and succulent in superior agricultural varieties, and apart from ingested fresh, is also often used in East Asian soups, snacks, desserts, and sweet-and-sour foods, either fresh or dried, sometimes canned with syrup in supermarkets.

Dried longan ({{zh-cpl|c= 桂圆 |p=guiyuan} } literal translation 桂圓 (Cassia (Gui, or Guay) marbles) are often used in Chinese cuisine and Chinese sweet dessert soups. In Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine, it is believed to have an effect on relaxation. In contrast with the fresh fruit, which is juicy and white, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black. In Chinese medicine the longan, much like the lychee, is considered a "warm" fruit.

Trunk

FLOWERING TIMINGS

J F M A M J J A S O N DLeavesFlowersFruits X X

Growing from Seeds

1. Collect fruits from tree or buy fruits

2. Remove the outer flesh for eating

3. Clean away all flesh from seeds

4. Soak in water for 10 - 14 days. Change water daily

5. Plant when seeds crack

6. Fill bottom of pot with LECA

7. Fill with potting mix

8. Arrange seeds on the top, with the base (rough part) facing upwards

9. Cover with thin layer of gravel mix or small LECA

10. Water with sprayer daily. Seed germinate after 10 – 15 days

11. Add diluted liquid fertilizer once a month

12. Can last for 2 to 3 years