​What is the difference between rambutan and lychee?

When the concubine in the world of mortals smiled, no one knew it was the lychees coming. This is a record of litchi in ancient poetry. It can be seen that in ancient times, litchi was a fresh and delicious fruit that people generally recognized. In summer, lychees are on the market. In real life, some people cannot tell the difference between rambutan and lychee. Rambutan originates from Malaysia. The cultivated area in China is relatively small. Currently, there are large areas of cultivation in Baoting and Sanya on Hainan Island, China. The taste of rambutan is similar to lychee. But it is very different from determination in other aspects. Let us take a look at them one by one below.

Morphological characteristics of rambutan

An evergreen tree, more than 10 meters high; twigs cylindrical, wrinkled, gray-brown, with only the tender parts covered with rusty pubescence. The leaves are 15-45 cm long with petioles, the rachis is slightly stout and wrinkled when dry; the leaflets are 2 or 3 pairs, rarely 1 or 4 pairs, thinly leathery, elliptic or obovate, 6-18 cm long, 4-7.5 cm wide, obtuse or slightly rounded at the apex, sometimes nearly mucronate, base cuneate, entire, glabrous on both sides; lateral veins are 7-9 pairs, brown-red when dry, raised only on the back, the reticulate veins are slightly honeycombed, visible on both sides when dry; the petiolules are about 5 mm long.

Growth habit

It prefers high temperature, high humidity, no wind damage, and low altitude mountain environments. The annual average temperature is above 24 degrees Celsius, and the temperature in the coldest month is above 17 degrees Celsius, which is suitable for the growth and development of rambutan. Rambutan is not drought-tolerant during the seedling stage and requires appropriate water management. The fruit needs water most during its growth period. Therefore, the annual rainfall in the cultivation area is required to be above 1800 mm.

Main Value

Ornamental value

Rambutan has beautiful appearance, and the fruit trees can also be used as ornamental trees in gardens.

Economic Value

Rambutan is a tropical fruit tree with great economic value. It enjoys a high reputation in the market and has a high selling price. It has a certain adaptability to planting in Hainan. The southern and southeastern regions are suitable for growing rambutan. It has high yield and excellent quality. It is a tropical fruit tree with great development prospects.

Fruit rambutan

It blooms from February to April every year, and the fruits are ripe and ready to be picked from June to August. A 20-year-old tree can produce 100 to 125 kilograms of fruit. The fruit shell is rich in pigments and is a good dye. Using different mordant methods, it can be dyed into yellow, military green, and brown.

Rambutan fruit is rich in nutrients and can be eaten fresh or canned. It can also be made into preserves, jams, jellies and wine.

Medicinal value

Wash the rambutan shell, add water and boil it as tea, which can improve stomatitis and diarrhea. The roots of the rambutan plant can be washed, boiled with water and used as a daily drink to reduce internal heat and relieve fever; the bark can be boiled in water and used as tea, which has a significant effect on tongue inflammation.

Lychee is native to southern China, and its cultivation and use history in China can be traced back to the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago.

Morphological characteristics

An evergreen tree, usually no more than 10 meters high, sometimes up to 15 meters or more, with gray-black bark; twigs are cylindrical, brown-red, and densely covered with white lenticels.

Growth environment

Litchi trees prefer high temperature and high humidity, and prefer sunlight. Their genetics require relatively low temperatures during the flower bud differentiation period, but they will suffer from frost damage if the lowest temperature is -2 to -4°C. Sunny and warm weather without dry heat is most favorable during the flowering period. Too low humidity, continuous rain, dry and hot weather or strong north winds are not conducive to flowering and pollination. Adverse weather conditions during the flowering and fruiting period will cause flowers and fruits to fall, or even a complete loss of harvest.

Main Value

edible

Nutritional Content

Lychee is rich in nutrients, containing glucose, sucrose, protein, fat, vitamins A, B, C, etc., as well as various nutrients such as folic acid, arginine, tryptophan, etc., which are very beneficial to human health. Litchi has the effects of strengthening the spleen and promoting body fluid, regulating qi and relieving pain. It is suitable for symptoms such as physical weakness, lack of body fluid after illness, stomach cold pain, hernia pain, etc. Modern research has found that litchi can nourish brain cells, improve insomnia, forgetfulness, and nightmares, promote skin metabolism, and delay aging. However, if people with special physical conditions eat lychees in excess, accidents may occur.

economy

The wood is solid, dark reddish brown, has elegant texture and is resistant to decay, and has always been considered a top-grade material. Guangdong classifies wild or semi-wild (all seed-propagated) lychee wood as special-grade wood, and cultivated lychee wood as first-grade wood, which are mainly used for shipbuilding, beams, columns, and high-quality furniture.