[1] It is closely related to several other edible tropical fruits, including the lychee, longan, pulasan, and quenepa.

[citation needed] The flowers are small, 2.5–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in), apetalous, discoidal, and borne in erect terminal panicles 15–30 cm (6–12 in) wide.

The leathery skin is reddish (rarely orange or yellow) and covered with fleshy pliable spines, hence the name, which means 'hairs'.

[7] The fruit flesh, the aril, is translucent, whitish, or very pale pink, with a sweet, mildly acidic flavor reminiscent of grapes.

[5] Soft and containing equal portions of saturated and unsaturated fats, the seed may be cooked and eaten, but is bitter and has narcotic properties.

[8]: 14 [9] Around the 13th to 15th centuries, Arab traders, who played a major role in Indian Ocean trade, introduced rambutans to Zanzibar and Pemba in East Africa.

[citation needed] There was an attempt to introduce rambutans to the Southeastern United States, with seeds imported from Java, Indonesia in 1906, but the species proved to be unsuccessful,[4] except in Puerto Rico.

[5] The name rambutan is derived from the Malay word rambut meaning 'hair' referring to the numerous hairy protuberances of the fruits, together with the noun-building suffix -an.

Bees foraging for nectar routinely contact the stigma of female flowers and gather significant quantities of the sticky pollen from male blossoms.

[4] In Nicaragua, a joint World Relief–European Union team distributed seedlings to organizations such as Ascociación Pueblos en Acción Comunitaria in 2001 to more than 100 farmers.

[citation needed] Some of these farmers saw the first production of rambutans from their trees in 2005–2006 with development directed at the local market.

The fruit of the rambutan tree may be eaten raw by removing the peel, eating the pulp, and discarding the seed.

In Hawaii, 24 ha of[convert: unknown unit] were harvested producing 120 tonnes (130 short tons) of fruit in 1997.

Yields could be increased by improved orchard management, including pollination, and by planting high-yielding compact cultivars.

[citation needed] In Thailand, rambutan trees were first planted in Surat Thani in 1926 by the Chinese Malay K. Vong in Ban Na San.

[20] In Malaysia, rambutan flowers from March to July and again between June and November, usually in response to rain following a dry period.

[citation needed] Rambutan cultivation in Sri Lanka mainly consists of small home gardens.

Sri Lanka also has some off-season rambutan production in January and February in areas such as Bibile, Medagama, and Monaragala.

[citation needed] Both male and female flowers are faintly sweet-scented and have functional nectaries at the ovary base.

It is one of the best-known fruits of Southeast Asia and is also widely cultivated elsewhere in the tropics including Africa, southern Mexico, the Caribbean islands, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, India, Vietnam, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

[citation needed] During 2017 and years before, imports of rambutan to the European Union were about 1,000 tonnes annually, enabling a year-round supply from numerous tropical suppliers.

[26] In general, the fruit has a short shelf life in ambient conditions but implementing methods that can extend such is a productional advantage.

[4] They have been widely cultivated in Southeast Asian areas, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines.