Brewster Lychee Tree – Live Tree in a 3 Gallon Pot – Litchi Chinensis ‘Brewster’ – Edible Nut Tree for Gardens

Brewster Lychee is a tropical/subtropical fruit tree with a reliable nature to fruit and flower, making it great for a home or commercial landscape. Trees may grow to 40 ft (12 m) in height and have a beautiful, dense, rounded, symmetrical canopy extending nearly to the ground (Figure 2a and 2b). Trees are very attractive with dark green foliage and reddish-colored fruit. Typically major limbs of nontrained trees begin within 3 ft (0.9 m) of the ground. The fruit is a drupe and fruit are borne in loose clusters numbering from 3 to 50 fruits and are round to oval and 1.0 to 1.5 inches (25 to 38 mm) in diameter (Figures 1 and 5). The skin (pericarp) ranges from yellow to pinkish or red and is leathery, with small, short, conical or rounded protuberances. The edible portion of the fruit (pulp) is called an aril that is succulent, whitish, translucent, with excellent subacid flavor. Fruits contain one shiny, dark brown seed, usually relatively large, but it may be small and shriveled (called chicken tongues) in some varieties. Fruit must be ripened on the tree for best flavor. Lychee flowers are pollinated by bees and various fly species (Figure 6). Isolated or single lychee trees will usually set acceptable amounts of fruit. However, recent research has demonstrated that under some conditions, cross-pollination among different cultivars may increase fruit set. Therefore, in some cases there may be an advantage to planting more than one variety.