Generous Longan Tree

I am really happy with my longan tree. It's been fruiting generously. The fruits are really sweet and juicy. If you are in the neighbourhood, do feel free to savour it.

It takes 5 months from blooming to harvest. It's worth the wait. 

Unlike the dragon fruit flowers, there is no need for hand pollination here.

And unlike the dragon fruit plant, there is a whole lot more fruits produced by a longan tree.

The only similarity between a longan and a dragon fruit is in its name.

They are both in the dragon family.

'Longan' actually means 'dragon's eye' in Chinese.

The Making of a Dragon Fruit

This brought hope...false hope, as it dropped off like many other flower buds.

This brought more hope. It bloomed last night.

The tall lady with spiky hair (stigma) is surrounded by many short yellow men (anthers). There are no bees working at night, what more in the rain. Using a new paint brush, I transferred the pollens from the anthers to the stigma. Since 10pm was an ideal time for pollination, the task was conducted during the fertile time in the rain.

Now we can only hope that the base of this flower forms a dragon fruit.

If not, there is still fresh hope...