Today I planted another rare red fruit tree… a red longan. Longan is originally from the lower slopes of the Himalayas and in northern Thailand. Along with lychee and rambutan, longan was first introduced to Hawaii and in Florida in the early 1900s. In the 50s, fruit collector Bill Whitman imported a superior variety from Hawaii named ‘Kohala’ to Miami and that makes up 99% of the cultivars grown in Florida today and most likely in Hawaii as well.
The name longan written in Chinese 龍眼 literally means dragon eyes which refers to how the peeled fruit of longan resembles eyeballs because of the black seed and translucent flesh. Somewhere in Taiwan the monks observed how the longan trees at their temple started to flower off season right after religious ceremonies took place which involved fireworks. This is when they figured out how to artificially induce flowering for longan trees. Farmers these days usually apply potassium chlorate at the base of the trees to force flowering on selected trees. This ensures year round harvest and income. Fom a large enough orchard people can enjoy longan year round.
Thanks Joe for this rare longan variety. I’m stoked because we haven’t planted any longan, rambutan, or lychee trees here yet. Mostly because there is a 10 acre lychee farm up the road from us. If we were to plant a lychee I would probably go for the Groff.
I did a lot of weed whacking today and I have more space to plant more trees than I originally thought!!!
Originally posted on 2021-11-14, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.