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The Longan is a perennial evergreen arbor plant, blooming in spring and yielding fruits in summer. Fruits are ball-shaped with shells of light yellow or brown. Its flesh is white and transparent, with plenty of juice and sweet flavor, Longan is one of the delicate fruits in Hainan. DRIED LONGAN plus its shell is a kind of calming medicine with nutritious effects.
Originated from China, longan has a plantation history of over 2, 000 years. Now it is widely planted in Hainan area. Shixia is the best of its kind. The Shixia Longan is big with sweet flavor like honey, and high yield. It was said that the oldest longan tree was grown out of stone crevices. Squeezed by big stones, the roots had no way but plunging deeply into soil and suck the quintessence of the earth. Because of this, its fruits were particularly tasteful, and the longan tree was named as Shixia (stone squeezing).
The longan is known as the "little brother" of the lichee. Sometimes called Dragon's Eye, the longan, rambutan, and lichee all belong to the Sapindaceae family. Longan is round or oval and a little larger than an olive. Its thin, rough, caramel-colored shell is easily peeled. Longan pulp is white translucent and surrounds a large, round, deep brown seed. While the longan's flesh is sweeter than a lichee's, it is not as juicy.
Longan is nonetheless very unusual. The fruits are roughly the size and shape of "jumbo" olives, about one inch (2. 5cm) long, with a thin, leathery outer covering. The fruits, which hang in grape-like clusters, are yellowish-red to brown at maturity. The fruits are often canned in a thick, sugary syrup and sold in Oriental Markets.