There are over 100 varieties of lychees, and new varieties are constantly emerging every year.
Now is the season for officially enjoying lychees. A large quantity of lychees are available on the market. Supermarkets, fruit stores, and street vendors are all shouting about the fresh lychees, with enticing phrases like "No need to pay if it's not sweet" and prices varying from high to low.
Litchi (scientific name: Litchi chinensis Sonn.) belongs to the Sapindaceae family and the Litchi genus. It is an evergreen tree, approximately 10 meters tall. The fruit skin has scaly protrusions, is bright red and purplish red. When fully ripe, it turns bright red; the seeds are all covered by a fleshy false seed coat. The flowering period is in spring and the fruiting period is in summer. When fresh, the fruit flesh is translucent and gelatinous, with a fragrant and delicious taste, but it is not suitable for storage.
It is distributed in southwestern China, including Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing, as well as southern regions such as Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan, and the southeastern regions like Fujian, Zhejiang and Taiwan. It is also cultivated in the southeastern part of Asia. There are records of its introduction to Africa, America and Oceania. Lychee is known as one of the "Four Major Fruits of the South" along with bananas, pineapples and longans.
Litchi is sweet, sour in taste, and warm in nature. It enters the meridians of the heart, spleen and liver. It can stop hiccups and diarrhea. It is an excellent food therapy choice for those with stubborn hiccups and nocturnal diarrhea. At the same time, it has the effects of nourishing the brain, promoting fitness, stimulating the appetite and benefiting the spleen. Due to its hot nature, excessive consumption can easily lead to excessive heat.

Key features: Rich aroma, sweet taste, but the fruit pits are usually large and the edible rate is relatively low.
Appearance: The fruit is heart-shaped or short heart-shaped, of medium size. The skin is dark red (rather than bright red), with flat and regularly arranged ridges (the scaly protrusions on the skin), and the cracks are shallow and narrow.
Main产地： It is widely cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Taiwan in China. It is also one of the main commercial varieties in many荔枝-growing regions around the world (such as South Africa， Australia)， and is commonly known as "Mauritius" in the European and American markets.
Ripe season： It is a mid-ripening variety， with a maturity period between early and late varieties， and usually comes into large-scale market supply in the middle to late June.
The fruit is of medium size， with an average single fruit weight of 19.56 grams. The fruit is elliptical， slightly heart-shaped or short heart-shaped. The skin is dark red， thin and relatively tough. The flesh is white， soft， smooth and juicy， with a sweet taste and a slight aroma. The edible rate is 78%. 
?? Comparison of Similar Varieties
The characteristics of "Black Leaf" lychee are distinct and make it easy to differentiate from other mainstream varieties: 
vs. Princess Smile Lychee: The fruit of Princess Smile is larger. Its most distinctive feature is that the skin is a mixture of red and green, the seed is small, and the flesh is crisp. In contrast, the skin of Black Leaf Lychee is dark red, the seed is large, and the aroma is stronger. 
vs. Guìwèi Lychee: Guìwèi is renowned for its distinctive aroma of桂花 and its crisp flesh, with small fruit pits. The Black Leaf variety offers a more "direct" sweetness and fragrance, with larger fruit pits and softer, more succulent flesh. 
vs. Glutinous Rice Candy with Lychee: Glutinous rice candy is a representative of "soft and sweet" flavors. It has a small core and thick flesh, with extremely high sweetness. The black leaf variety cannot compare with it in terms of sweetness and fruit flesh texture, and its core is larger.