Lychee X Longan Hybrid?

[FruitKid374]

I recently bought a lychee longan hybrid at one of my local nurseries, but now I am thinking it could be the lychee bvariety "Sweet Cliff". The tree is already fruiting and has all of the characteristics you would expect in a hybrid.  The leaves are rounded like a longan but longer like a lychee.  The shell of the fruit are have very little spikes and  have greenish brown spots.  The fruit has the flavor of a lychee but with a musky kick to it.
Any thoughts?

[Mike T]

Call me a sceptic about crossing genera of fruit trees and I think its just a lychee.There are a few smoother, less coloured varieties.

[Mike T]

Could be kaimana. If you ever see lychees labelled as Sansuelin or Shuang then jump give these new age types a whirl. I think they will be a bit like Erdon Lee and be go to varieties in the future.

[bsbullie]

Looks mighty large to be a Sweet Cliff.

[spaugh]

Some of the rare ones the local place sells are new ones imported from overseas without names.

[Mike T]

Kaimana is not a super glamorous variety and a few others can be brownish and smooth.

[Mike T]

Wrong pic sorry and this is what I should have posted.

[fruit4me]

I recently bought a lychee longan hybrid at one of my local nurseries, but now I am thinking it could be the lychee bvariety "Sweet Cliff". The tree is already fruiting and has all of the characteristics you would expect in a hybrid.  The leaves are rounded like a longan but longer like a lychee.  The shell of the fruit are have very little spikes and  have greenish brown spots.  The fruit has the flavor of a lychee but with a musky kick to it.
Any thoughts?

Congrats on fruiting the tree! Very interesting looking fruit.  How big is that tree? Did the seller give you any information about tree before you bought it? Just curious, what was the size and shape of the seed. Is it round like longans or more like lychees nuts?

[fruitlovers]

Yes please post close up photo of the seed. The fruit does not look like a Kaimana. I also doubt it's a cross. While lychee/longan hybrids are possible they are not easy to make, and somehow doubt a California nursery would sell one.

[ScottR]

I recently bought a lychee longan hybrid at one of my local nurseries, but now I am thinking it could be the lychee bvariety "Sweet Cliff". The tree is already fruiting and has all of the characteristics you would expect in a hybrid.  The leaves are rounded like a longan but longer like a lychee.  The shell of the fruit are have very little spikes and  have greenish brown spots.  The fruit has the flavor of a lychee but with a musky kick to it.
Any thoughts?

  Fruitkid, what nursery did you buy that tree from?

[FruitKid374]

Thanks for the replies,
The tree is around 4 feet tall, but it has almost no branches. The guy I got it from says it is a very slow grower and only grows a few inches a year. The fruits are fairly large, but the seeds are too. Compared to lychee seeds, the seed from this fruit is more squat and less long although I think it is closer looking to lychees.








Another seed I already germinated. They may look bigger than they actually are as my hands are small (I'm only 14)

[fruitlovers]

Looks like a lychee seed. Maybe you want to ask the nursery how they hybridized it? Or what the source of the plant is?

[Mike T]

Some lychees have short fat seeds like longans (eg kwai mai pink) but usually are more brown than blackish. In still say just a lychee.

[Satya]

Seed certainly looks like lychee's.