B-3

My latest addition is a Bosworth 3 lychee or, for the insiders at Tropical Fruit Forum or just someone typing on one of those teeny-tiny keypads, a B-3. It's also known as Kwai Mai Pink for its pink-colored fruit.

It's a somewhat uncommon variety, achieving only a single, one-page thread at Tropical Fruit Forum. The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden's website describes it as a small tree that is a consistent producer of small but delicious pink fruit. Pine Island Nursery's cultivar viewer describes the fruit as good to excellent, and the tree as a regular producer. The coloration and small fruit size diminish its commercial potential, but it's rated an excellent choice for the home grower.

I did a bit of Ecosia-ing (regular readers--- both of you--- will recall my preference for the tree-planting search engine Ecosia) and found some curious tidbits. A vendor in the Canary Islands reports that the Bosworth 3 is more cold-hardy than other varieties. An Australian poster on Tropical Fruit Forum says its doesn't require as much cold as other varieties do to fruit successfully. Seemingly contradictory, but not actually logically inconsistent.

Then there is the Australian nursery that describes the Kwai Mai Pink tree as medium to large, with fruit that is red when ripe. I'm thinking someone musta' sold them a bill of goods, but maybe they are not so far off. It turns out there is a Kwai Mai Red cultivar. The Archives of the Rare Fruit Council of Australia list both the Kwai Mai Pink and the Kwai Mai Red, the latter also called the Bosworth 10.

Finally, on eBay you can buy a “Live Kwai Mai Pink Lychee Seedling”. Perhaps not the best place to buy a fruit tree. Though if one is going to buy a seedling, it's good to get a live one.