[11] Its evergreen leaves, 12.5 to 20 cm (4.9 to 7.9 in) long, are pinnate, having 4 to 8 alternate, elliptic-oblong to lanceolate, abruptly pointed, leaflets, The bark is grey-black, the branches a brownish-red.

The panicles grow in clusters of ten or more, reaching 10 to 40 cm (3.9 to 15.7 in) or longer, holding hundreds of small white, yellow, or green flowers that are distinctively fragrant.

The rind is inedible but easily removed to expose a layer of translucent white flesh with a floral smell and a sweet flavor.

[11] The lychee attracted the attention of European travelers, such as the Spanish bishop, explorer, and sinologist Juan González de Mendoza in his History of the great and mighty kingdom of China (1585; English translation 1588), based on the reports of Spanish friars who had visited China in the 1570s gave the fruit high praise:[16] [T]hey haue a kinde of plummes, that they doo call lechias, that are of an exceeding gallant tast, and neuer hurteth any body, although they shoulde eate a great number of them.Later the lychee was described and introduced to the West in 1656 by Michal Boym, a Polish Jesuit missionary (at that time Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth).

[18] Lychee was introduced in the north-western parts of Indian Subcontinent (then British Raj) in 1932 and remained an exotic plant until the 1960s when commercial production began.

The crop's production expanded from Begum Kot (Lahore District) in Punjab to Hazara, Haripur, Sialkot and Mirpur Khas.

[4][20] Lychees require a climate with high summer heat, rainfall, and humidity, growing optimally on well-drained, slightly acidic soils rich in organic matter and mulch.

When the central opening of trees is carried out as part of training and pruning, stereo fruiting can be achieved for higher orchard productivity.

In China, popular cultivars include Sanyuehong, Baitangying, Baila, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Shuidong, Feizixiao, Dazou, Heiye, Nuomici, Guiwei, Huaizhi, Lanzhu, and Chenzi.

[10][24] India grows more than a dozen named cultivars, including Shahi (Highest Pulp %), Dehradun, Early Large Red, Kalkattia and Rose Scented.

The raw pulp is rich in vitamin C, having 72 mg per 100 grams – an amount representing 79% of the Daily Value – but contains no other micronutrients in significant content (table).

[29] In 1962, it was found that lychee seeds contained methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG), a homologue of hypoglycin A, which caused hypoglycemia in human and animal studies.

[33][34] A 2013 investigation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in India, showed that cases were linked to the consumption of lychee fruit,[35] causing a noninflammatory encephalopathy that mimicked symptoms of Jamaican vomiting sickness.

[36] Because low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) of less than 70 mg/dL in the undernourished children on admission was common, and associated with a poorer outcome (44% of all cases were fatal) the CDC identified the illness as a hypoglycemic encephalopathy.

[35] The investigation linked the illness to hypoglycin A and MCPG toxicity, and to malnourished children eating lychees (particularly unripe ones) on an empty stomach.

[7] The CDC report recommended that parents ensure their children limit lychee consumption and have an evening meal, elevating blood glucose levels that may be sufficient to deter illness.