Crystal Ball lychee

Crystal Ball

　　The Crystal Ball is one of the premium lychee varieties from Zengcheng. In Chagang Village, Licheng Town, there is an old tree that is 450 years old. The Xuantong-era (1909–1911) "Zengcheng County Annals" recorded: “The Crystal Ball variety from Chagang is also exquisite, and its yield is no less than that of the Hanging Green.” In the early 1980s, a private orchard in the Jiuyi Brigade of Xiaolou Town propagated a batch of young Crystal Ball trees using cuttings from the old Chagang tree, showing great promise. Other areas such as Sanjiang Town, Fuhe Town, Licheng Town, Shapu Town, and Zhongxin also have small-scale plantings. The Crystal Ball has lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate leaves; the fruit is nearly heart-shaped, medium-sized, with an average single fruit weight of 18 grams; the peel is thin, pale red tinged with yellow, with large and slightly raised protuberances, shallow cracks, and indistinct sutures; the fruit shoulder is slightly raised, the flesh is translucent milky-white, the texture is especially crisp and juicy, the taste is sweet with a slight fragrance, the edible rate is 83.3%, it contains 18.5%–21.5% soluble solids, 100 ml of juice contains 242.2 mg of vitamin C and 0.12 g of acid, most seeds are small, averaging 0.63 g. It flowers in late March and ripens in late June. With crisp and juicy flesh, a sweet taste, small seeds, excellent quality, high fruit set rate, and high yield, it holds significant potential for promotion. (Zengcheng)