EVALUATION AND INTRODUCTION OF LYCHEE CULTIVARS IN SOUTH FLORIDA, USA

The lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) was introduced to Florida, USA in the 1880s, gaining importance as a commercial crop in the late 1940s and 1950s. In order to encourage its commercial development in Florida, many cultivars were introduced from around the world to evaluate their performance under local conditions. Reliability of fruiting, disease resistance, yield potential and commercial potential were considered priority for the commercial suitability of a cultivar. Cultivars evaluated included ‘Amboina’, ‘Bengal’, ‘Brewster’, ‘Early Large Red’, ‘Early Seedless’, ‘Emperor’, ‘Garnet’, ‘Gee Kee’, ‘Groff’, ‘Hak Ip’, ‘Hanging Green’, ‘Kaimana’, ‘Kwai May’, ‘Kwai May Pink’, ‘Kwaluk’, ‘Late Globe’, ‘Late Seedless’, ‘Mauritius’, ‘Nuo Mi Ci’, ‘Ohia’, ‘Pat Po Hung’, ‘Peerless’, ‘Salathial’, ‘Shan Chi’, ‘Sum Yee Hong’, ‘Sweet Cliff’, ‘Tukmia’, ‘Wai Chee’ and ‘Yellow Red’. Based on these evaluations, the cultivars ‘Mauritius’ (‘Tai So’) and ‘Brewster’ (‘Chen Zi’) were deemed the most reliable in bearing and commercially viable. Currently, ‘Mauritius’ constitutes the majority of the 240 ha of commercial acreage in Florida, with a small percentage devoted to ‘Brewster’. These two cultivars remain the most viable for commercial planting. ‘Early Large Red’, ‘Emperor’, ‘Kwai May Pink’ and ‘Sum Yee Hong’ have proven to be reliable in their blooming and fruiting, but evaluation data are limited and they may have other limitations that render them unacceptable for commercial use.