Longan – Eye of the Dragon

Called Dragon Eyes because of their colour, these round yellow-brown skinned fruits are much appreciated by the Chinese. Cultivated for over 1,000 years, Longan crops later in the summer than its more famous relative, the Lychee. Remove the thin shell like skin and pop the translucent white fruit into your mouth for a real taste treat.

It’s said that Longans are an acquired taste. I acquired the taste after my first fresh fruit. The distinctive musky flavour is quite unlike the Lychee. Sweet juicy aromatic Longans are one of the more exciting fruits of the future for Perth gardens. I see an excellent commercial opportunity also. The demand for Longans from Australia’s Asian population far exceeds supply, even for poorer quality seedling fruits.

Dragon’s Eyes are less demanding in their climatic and soil requirements than Lychees. Able to withstand temperatures of -4C when mature, they actually require a chilling period to achieve a fruit set. A bushy tree to around 5 or 6 metres high with a similar spread, Longan is a heavy producer.

Because of late summer cropping there is a tendency to produce alight crop every second year while the tree builds up foliage and carbohydrates for the heavy crop the following year.

How to grow Longans

Along with many other sup-tropical trees, Longans like sunny north facing locations, rich, well drained soil and wind protection. In Thailand, trees are gradually mounded up with soil to an eventual height of 2 metres to protect the tree from being pushed over by very strong winds. Longans need heavy irrigation from September to December while the fruits are filling out. Mulching the soil with organic material is very beneficial, it provides insulation from rapid changes in temperature and moisture levels.

Varieties

There has been a flood of varieties coming to Australia from China, Taiwan, Thailand, Florida and Hawaii.  Grafted plants derived from these tried and tested varieties will produce earlier and the quality of the fruit is higher.  While grafts are more costly than seedlings, the early extra investment pays off handsomely.  Grafts should produce in their 3^rd or 4^th year – seedlings can take 8 to 10 years.  It is too early to make recommendations about specific named varieties.  Growing trials will need to supply information about local performance.  So I can only suggest choosing a graft or two if you have space and grow your own trial.

Fruit Uses

A delicious fruit to eat fresh, Longan, according to some, is improved by cooking.  It can be bottled and dried.  Canned Longans are available and I believe taste better than tinned Lychee.  To get you into the Dragon Eye Habit, buy a can of Longans and try this unusual salad:

Dragon Eye Salad (for 6 servings)

1 Large can of Longans – drained, ¾ cup cottage cheese, 1/3 to ½ mayonnaise, 1/3 cup Pecan Kernels.

Fill cavities of Longans with Cottage Cheese.  Chill and place on lettuce leaves.  Garnish with mayonnaise and Pecans.

Limes – “The Bartender’s Fruit”

Like lemons, limes are an acid fruit. They tend to be slightly more sensitive to cold and certainly should not be grown in frost prone areas unless some protective measures are taken. Many travellers come back from tropical climes looking to buy a green fruited lime with a strong flavour that they have found in places like Bali and Singapore.

All the limes that grow around the metropolitan area will produce a coloured skin. The West Indian Lime and the Tahitian Lime both are quite bright yellow in maturity and Rangpur is bright orange. The reason for this is that in the tropics there is sufficient cold at night time for the skin to fully colour so even when the limes are fully ripe, the skin is quite green.

Lime trees are principally used to supply sliced fruit and juice for the bar. However the bright acid juice can be used in quite a few dessert recipes as a substitute for lemons.

Lime Varieties

The West Indian Lime is a small tree with very compact dense growth. It has many small thorns and is extremely intolerant to cold conditions. The fruit remains dark green almost black until it is ready to ripen, it will eventually turn a bright yellow colour. The best time to pick the fruit is when it is a dark green but some patches of yellow are starting to come through on the skin. At this stage it is at it’s most acid. The fruit is small in size, very difficult to peel and can have either a few or many seeds depending on the cultivar. The fruit tends to drop after maturity. This is a highly acid aromatic fruit and very juicy as well. Unfortunately because of it’s climate requirements, it is not par­ticularly well suited to Perth, needing every, very warm spot and quite a deal of cold protection during the Winter. A small growing tree, it is ideal for container planting.

The Tahitian Lime is a larger tree growing about the same size as most ‘Eureka’ lemons, the fruit however is only half the size. Once again this should be harvested at the green, just turning to yellow stage. A vigorous, dense foliage tree, it has some thorns but a lot less than the West Indian Lime. The Tahitian Lime has very few to no seeds and holds quite well on the tree. It is a true acid lime in its flavour and very juicy.

Having a long cropping season which lasts some nine months it’s an ideal lime for growing around the metropolitan area where its requirement for heat is a lot less than the West Indian form. A very beautiful ornamental tree producing fragrant blossoms and very juicy bright coloured attractive fruit. Limes should not be consigned to the back yard but considered as an ornamental for planting in the front garden. While it will grow as large as a lemon, they can be contained by planting in a large tub. Limes look great around the pool side or on a sunny patio.

Rangpur is not a true lime, in fact it is more like a sour orange, a miniature one at that. The tree is medium size, spreading with slightly weeping branches. It is a vigorous extremely productive tree with slender twigs and comparatively few thorns. Very cold hardy plant Rangpur grows very well through the metropolitan area. The fruit is small to medium in size, round with a loose skin, the fruit colour is bright reddish-orange and the flesh is orange as well. It is easy to peel, has many seeds and holds for a good time on the tree making it an ornamental plant of some value. The fruit has a tender flesh and is very juicy and extremely acid. Like the other varieties, it makes a great and colourful tub plant.

For the adventurous, here is an Hawaiian recipe involving a lime marinade, which dena­tures the fish virtually cooking it in about six to eight hours.

Hawaiian Coral Fish Salad

750 grams of Snapper Fillets. Juice of three limes (or 3 lemons) 112 teaspoon salt

1 small white onion finely sliced green peppercorns, lime slices for garnishing

Remove skin and bones from fillets and slice into thin strips about 1 centimetre thick and 3 – 4 centimetres long. Place in a glass dish, add onion then cover with lime juice and sprinkle with salt.

Marinate for around 6 – 8 hours (you can leave it overnight in the fridge). This denatures the flesh turning it white as if it were cooked. Pour off lime juice and arrange fish over a fresh salad, garnish with green peppercorns and lime slices. That’s right, you don’t actually cook the fish however it is delicious I can vouch for that!

Stage 33 – the grow pots nearly ready for the fruit trees.

The new grow pots and pipework all in situ and the new bio filter. All ready to plant up our kaffir lime and dwarf lemon.