Talk:Lychee

Page Name

The first paragraph claims that 'litchi' is the usual English spelling, and does not mention 'lychee' at all, but then uses lychee through the rest of the article. If 'litchi' is indeed the usual English spelling, shouldn't that be used in the title and throughout the article as well (WP:UCN)? Otherwise, the opening paragraph should be changed to use 'lychee' and mention litchi as an alternate spelling; the current arrangement is confusing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.214.146.193 (talk) 12:38, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Mandarin it is "li-zhi" with retroflex

In Mandarin, Lychee has no "ch" sound actually. Its pinyin is lizhi, which I guess if we were to try to use English type rules for letters, it'd be "Lee Zzzz" but with the tongue to the roof of the mouth during the 'zzz'... Nice article though. I love lychee. I did not know there were so many different kinds!64.17.68.14 (talk) 06:32, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Is Lychee The Same As Madi Phalam ?

Tried a search on madi phalam and did not find much information on google. Is Madi phalam (Indian fruit name) the same as lychee ? Madi Phala Rasayanam is a popular ayurvedic medicine. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.93.105.131 (talk) 05:29, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Human Earlobe Texture

Surely we can think up a more appetizing descriptive phrase for the dried Lychee fruit than "somewhat resembling a human earlobe in texture"?????? I'll leave it to wiser minds than mine to figure that out.

Yeah. Ew. --StarChaser Tyger 10:10, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Earlobe texture = cooked mushroom. However, the texture of a lychee is more akin to a grape or cherry.

How to prodused

it is Lychee or slove you aid more like lychee?

The Cantonese pronunciation is closer to "Lye-chee" (better, "Lye-jee") while the Mandarin pronuncitation is closer to "Lit-chee" (or more accurately, "Lee-jee"). I'm not sure about the English transliterations; try a dictionary. 131.107.0.81 23:24, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

No, in Mandarin it's like "li-zhi". (li-tzi in older times.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.126.75.181 (talk) 04:22, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Rind-eating

Doesn't say if you are meant to eat the skin or not. Edward 21:48, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Does now (you don't) - sannse (talk) 06:53, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)

You don't need the article to tell you. Take a bite and you know. The rinds taste terrible. Kowloonese 22:50, Mar 11, 2005 (UTC)

Well, we should state the obvious for those who will never get the chance to eat this tropical food. --Menchi 00:13, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Synonym

is another name 'lychnis' and than polish 'firletka'?

Definitely not the same as Lychnis. I dunno about firletka. --Menchi 00:13, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

It seems that:

(Polish) firletka == (?) lychnis != (Latin) litchi == (English) lychee == (Polish) liczi

—6birc 20:48, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Lychee is Lynchee in Thai so maybe that is where you're getting lychnis?

Is lychee a Cantonese cuisine?

Although non-Cantonese people also eat it, in my opinion it is a Cantonese cuisine. — Instantnood 19:42, Apr 6, 2005 (UTC)

You realise, of course, how preposterous that opinion sounds? Are peanuts, then, food of the Americas only even if found in 四川 dishes? How about potatoes? Are any potato-based dishes American as well?

Individual dishes can be called "Cantonese" (or whatever), but ingredients? That's just plain foolish. --MTR (严加华)

There is a freaking common desert served in Singapore which mixes Lychees with Pineapple. Is this cantonese cuisine? Both lychees and longans are very common in Singapore's supermarket shelves, and as part of various dishes. Is this due to cantonese influence? I have my serious doubts. Anyhow, the above two responses says it all. I might be tempted to classify Tea as Chinese cuisine, and Rice as Asian cuisine, but is that practical?--Huaiwei 07:48, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Someone should trace where the fruit originated from. The English names Lychee and Longan are based on the Cantonese names of the fruits, but the names do not prove the origin. Use Kiwi fruit as an example, it is originally a Chinese fruit, but nowadays, even its English name is tied to New Zealand. So is it Chinese or New Zealander? Another example is the board game Go, the game originated from China, but its English name comes from Japanese, and it is played around the world. How do you classify it? Is it an international game? Is it origin worth mentioning at all? Kowloonese 21:31, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Availability in the US

I haven't seen too many fresh Lychee sold in the supermarkets here in the US. The local asian supermarket sometimes has a limited selection of old looking ones. It is my favorite fruit and I don't understand why people wouldn't distribute it. It is much tastier than other fruits which have gotten mass distribution in America. My Chinese teacher said it was due to the US import/export policy. However, then there wouldn't be any fresh Lychee here. Just wondering if anyone knew anything more on the subject.

It has a short season, only in the summer. The trees can't survive cold climate. These all add up to limited production. You have better chance to find them in Chinese supermarket in July and August. The rind turned dark brown when the fruit has been refrigerated in transport. Usually the taste is not affected despite the dark rind. Kowloonese 22:19, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Go to Trader Joe's, if you have one. They carry them. -- ßottesiηi ^(talk) 21:06, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Lol, I just got some there today! I've been wanting to try them, but didn't have money last time I saw them at the store. I've also seen them in Raleys. They are really tasty. I didn't know not to eat the seed at first though (the package said to peel and then eat, nothing about taking out the seed). It was really bitter and I spit it out, which is good since this page says they're slightly poisonous. The Ungovernable Force 04:48, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Selecting a Fruit?

I can't find any guidance on the web about how to pick a good one -- the local asian market gets crazy business, so they have giant piles of all their fresh fruit, including lychees. Some are pale, some are darker red... obviously, you don't want the cracked ones. Is there any other guidance on which will be sweet vs. which will be slightly bitter? Mine always seem to have a faint taste of bitter under the main lychee flavor. It tastes like the rind, even though they've been peeled. Should they be rinsed after peeling, or something?

litchis are roughly as nourishing as longans

I took out the sentence about longans being more "nourishing" -- litchis are roughly as nourishing as longans. See http://www.timothyhowe.com/cgi-bin/compfoods.pl and compare litchi with longan.

fruit classification

The fruit can definitely not be classified as a drupe, as was previously the case on this page. It should rather be referred to as a berry or even arillate berry, if one wants to be more descriptive.

the cantonese saying

is it just cantonese or is it chinese?

The saying is Chinese in the sense that Cantonese is only a spoken dialect (in formal writing, at least), so the saying is spelt out in Chinese words and people who understand Chinese will understand the saying. On the other hand, the saying is Cantonese in the sense that the `corruption' of Su Shi's poetry verse was done in Cantonese: The pairs of words in the two verses sound extremely similar in Cantonese, but not necessarily in other Chinese dialects (eg, Mandarin). 69.235.145.252 08:44, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

hanging green

so, when the hanging green tree dies, no more hanging green lychees? 24.206.74.247 02:26, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

leaking template?

for some reason, this article is categorized in Category:Multilingual support templates. dab (𒁳) 10:27, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

OK: I found and fixwd the culprit — {{Cantonese-j}}. — Gareth Hughes 13:23, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

pronounciation?

I'm surprised that the IPA notation indicates that "lychee" is pronounced with a long "E" vowel sound in the first syllable, i.e. "lee-chee". By its spelling, "lychee", I expected the vowel in the first syllable to sound like a long "I", i.e. "lye-chee".

During the time I spent in Malaysia and Singapore, I heard everybody pronounce it as "lye-chee", which matches the Malay spelling in the article. I can't remember anybody there pronouncing it the other way. Even in the USA, I hear more people pronounce it as "lye-chee". It seems as though if this is not the "correct" pronunciation of the word, it is at least a very popular alternative. Should this be added to the article? --Lance E Sloan (talk) 19:42, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

The pronunciation comes from the Cantonese. The first syllable is pronounced 'lie'; the vowels in lychee are the same as those in 'pipe dream'.113.73.15.157 (talk) 11:11, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Lychee taste's

I've tasted lychee FOR REAL and the flesh is soft and sweet. Sometimes it may be a bit sour but it tastes good. There is a giant, black pit in the middle which is too big to swallow. The outside of a Lychee is a bit rough and very bumpy. It may be a bit hard to open, on some occasions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.233.25.185 (talk) 20:42, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Infobox image

The current infobox photo is very dark and a bit blurry. There are two photos that I think would serve the article better. Does anyone have an opinion on this? These are about the size they would appear in the infobox. First Light (talk) 02:34, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

• 
  Current image
• 
  Composite photo
• 
  Clear image of fruits on tree

I've changed the infobox photo to the third one shown above. First Light (talk) 17:17, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

In Chinese nutrition folklore, lizhi is considered a "hot" fruit?

I was visiting Shanghai last summer and often bought and ate lizhis. Many Shanghainese said to me I shouldn't be eating them when it's hot because the fruit itself is classified as "hot" in some old Chinese medicine way or something. I then asked many people about this and they confirmed this. On Chinese Wikipedia page on "Medicinal use", its parts are classified as 温 or "warm". Anyone with more accurate info on this? --Sigmundur (talk) 11:10, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

• Old Chinese adage say that one Lychee fruit equals to "three torches", the "torch" being a literary interpretation of the "heat" it generates in one's body. IIRC, there have been cases where people have coughed up blood after eating too much Lychee (in the order of bushels). It's worth putting it in, I think. I'll be bold here...

In Vietnam, the most popular cultivars are: Longhnan, Tieuhue, and Xuongcomvang?

They are misspelt and they are cultivars of longans, not lychee. The most popular cultivars of lychee is vải thiều of Hải Dương. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.16.122.85 (talk) 14:27, 16 December 2010 (UTC)

Nutritional Facts

I don't feel capable of editing it myself, but the last part of "nutritional facts" is both a bit irrelevant and written with a pretty bad English. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.166.110.206 (talk) 20:49, 18 December 2010 (UTC)

Two 'Cultivars' sections?

I was just passing by and I noticed there are two 'Cultivars' sections. An error maybe?

Cultivars

Under this section, it states that "Florida production is based on the Hawaii cultivar Kohala..." These are Longan, not Litchi cultivars. This is a glaring mistake and throws the entire section into doubt. I would suggest a complete rewrite with current citations. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.139.49.98 (talk) 00:30, 23 May 2011 (UTC)