From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
Also lichee, lichi, litchi. The most popular of Chinese fruits, Lychee chinensis; its tree can reach 65 feet (20 m) in height and can produce up to 300 pounds (150 kg) of fruit a year. They have been cultivated in China for more than 2,000 years, and they're one of the fruits given as a good luck charm to celebrate Chinese New Year. It's said that an ancient Chinese poet bragged about his lychee habit, claiming to eat a minimum of 300 every day and as many as 1,000 in one day. The first book about the cultivation of the fruit was written in AD 1056.
