Longan
Dimocarpus longan Lour.
Longan (Dimocarpus longan) is an evergreen tropical fruit tree with small brown fruits and a translucent white aril; the dried fruit (longan) is used in traditional medicine as a calmative and blood tonic.
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Longan — Seeds & young plantsLongan — Whole tree
Longan — Fruit & seeds
Longan — Flowers
Longan — Leaves
Longan — Trunk & barkLongan — Seeds & young plantsLongan — Whole treeOverview
A tree 10–20 m tall with a broad crown and grey-brown bark. Leaves are pinnate with glossy elliptic leaflets. Small greenish-yellow flowers form terminal panicles; the round fruit has a warty brown skin and a translucent white aril around a shiny black seed.
Longan flowers in spring and ripens from late summer to early autumn; it is a good honey plant and is planted near apiaries. The fruit is eaten fresh, dried as longan, and used in sweet soups and tonic liquor.
Life cycle
From seed to productSeed
Shiny black seeds must be sown fresh and germinate in 1–2 weeks; seedling trees take long to fruit.
Sapling
Saplings are light-demanding and slower than mango; they are usually grafted to fruit early.
Flowering
Greenish-yellow panicles open in spring, rich in nectar and attractive to bees.
Fruiting
Fruits ripen late summer to early autumn; grafted trees bear in 3–4 years.
Distribution & origin
Share of recorded occurrences by region- South China34%
- Southeast Asia26%
- Vietnam18%
- Taiwan · Thailand12%
- Other plantings10%
Chemical composition
Relative content in agarwood resin- Sugars (glucose, sucrose)Deep sweetness40%
- Vitamin CAntioxidant22%
- Minerals (K, Mg, Fe)Blood tonic in TCM18%
- Polyphenols · othersAntioxidant20%
Uses
- Fresh fruit; dried longan
- Sweet soups, drinks, tonic wine
- Calmative, blood tonic (TCM); honey plant
Properties
- Leaf
- Pinnate, glossy
- Fruit
- Warty brown skin, translucent aril
- Seed
- Shiny black, single
Habitat & conservation
Native to South China and Southeast Asia; likes a warm tropical climate and deep, well-drained soil; needs a mild dry spell to flower, grown in lowlands and hillsides.
Conservation
Not globally threatened (IUCN: Least Concern). Widely grown as a fruit and honey tree; supply comes mainly from cultivation.
References
- 1Plants of the World Online — Dimocarpus longan — Kew Science, 2024
- 2IUCN Red List — Dimocarpus longan — IUCN, 2019
- 3The Longan: Botany, Production and Uses — CABI, 2015
- 4Hình ảnh minh hoạ lấy từ Wikimedia Commons, tôn trọng giấy phép ghi kèm — Wikimedia Commons,
- 5Nguồn ảnh: Forest and Kim Starr (CC BY 3.0 us), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 6Nguồn ảnh: Dinesh Valke from Thane, India (CC BY-SA 2.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 7Nguồn ảnh: Forest & Kim Starr (CC BY 3.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 8Nguồn ảnh: Salil Kumar Mukherjee (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 9Nguồn ảnh: Jidanni (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,