TOWARDS A BETTER INSIGHT INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARILLATE FRUIT OF LITCHI AND LONGAN

Arillate fruit of litchi and longan, obviously also of rambutan, a very close species within the Sapindaceae family, are structurally complex and unique. There was a relative paucity of information concerning the development on these arillate fruit before the 1970's. Since then, a sizable body of information has been accumulated on the development of these two fruit. The present overview is an attempt to outline the main achievements accomplished by various workers, a large number of whom were Chinese. This paper starts with a conception of “ballskin vs bladder effect”, which permeates through most of the topics covering fruit growth, correlative relationships and competition among different tissues of the fruit, stenospermocarpy and parthenocarpy. Initiation and growth of aril, fruitset, and fruit cracking are also touched. The author's viewpoints on various issues are enunciated.