Selection of an early-maturing litchi cultivar ‘Liaoyuan No.1’

Abstract:‘Liaoyuan No. 1’is an early-maturing litchi variety bred by natural population. In 1994, a li- tchi superior individual plant was found in the litchi orchard of Liaoyuan team, Lujiang farm, Lujiang town, Longyang district, Baoshan city, Yunnan province. The color of the fruit peel was purple red, the mature period was early, the scorch rate was very high and the yield was stable. After many years re- gional trials, it was found that the genetic character was stable. In December 2019, it was approved by Yunnan Provincial Tree Species Validation Committee. The species is a tall tree, with tree growth habit spreading and tree vigor semi-circular. The branches are gray. The leaves are narrow, elliptical and invo- lute, with the tips ecoming gradually sharp. The young leaves are yellow green and the old leaves are dark green as well as shiny. The leaves are 12.6 cm long and 3.4 cm wide. The petioles are 0.6 cm long and 0.3 mm thick. The flowers are large and the receptacle is yellow brown. The fruit is cone-shaped, medium large, with purplish red peel and inconspicuous suture. The average weight of single fruit is 23.5 g and the maximum weight of single fruit is 27.2 g. The longitudinal diameter of fruit is 37.5 mm and the transverse diameter is 33.2 mm. The weight of seed is 2.0 g, measuring 25.4 mm long and 13.3 mm wide. The flesh is waxy white and the testa is dark brown, with a slender or chicken tongue shaped appearance. The species is of good quality with 74.4% edible rate 19.5% the content of soluble solids, 16.5% the conetnt of total sugar, 1.6% the content of titratable acid, 567.0 mg · kg- 1 the content of vitamin C as well as 95% the coke core. The fruit development period is about 70 days, and the mature stage is the end of May in Baoshan, Yunnan province. The mature stage is 10- 15 days later than‘Sanyuehong’and 10-15 days earlier than‘Dahongpao’. It has good grafting affinity with‘Hemaoli’and‘Dahongpao’, with is not easy to crack fruit, and has good yield and stability. Taken adult‘Da- hongpao’as rootstock, the yield per plant is 13.6 kg and 25.7 kg in the third and fourth years after high grafting. Selecting the plot with deep soil layer, high organic matter content and no pollution builds plantations. The row and plant spacing (4-5) m × (5-6) m in flat or gentle slope land and 4m × 4m in steep slope land. Pruning shall be carried out immediately after fruit picking of adult fruiting trees, mainly with short cutting and light thinning, branch pulling including when necessary. The mature period of the last shoot was from late September to early October. The variety is suitable for large-scale de- velopment in the hot areas of low latitude and low altitude in Yunnan.