Rambutan

The rambutan is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae, and the fruit of this tree. It is native to Malaysia, Indonesia, The Philippines, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, although its precise natural distribution is unknown. It is closely related to several other edible tropical fruits including the Lychee, Longan, and Mamoncillo. It is believed to be native to the Malay Archipelago. Rambutan in Indonesian, Filipino and Malay literally means hairy caused by the 'hair' that covers this fruit. There is a second species regularly for sale at Malay markets which is known as wild rambutan. It is a little smaller than the usual red variety and is colored yellow. The outer skin is peeled exposing the fleshy fruit inside which is then eaten. It is sweet, sour and slightly grape like and gummy to the taste. It is closely related to other edible tropical fruits like the lychee, longan, and mamoncillo. The fruit is typically eaten by peeling the outer skin to expose the flesh of the fruit, which has sweet, sour taste that somewhat resembles grapes.

A second species regularly sold in Costa Rican markets is often known as "wild" rambutan. Yellow in color, it is a little smaller than the usual red variety. The flesh exposed when the outer skin is peeled off is sweet and sour, slightly grape-like and gummy to the taste. In Costa Rican Spanish, it is known as mamón chino (literally translated as "Chinese sucker") due to its Asian origin and the likeness of the edible part with Melicoccus bijugatus.
Rambutan are non-climacteric fruit - that is, they ripen only on the tree.

Description

It is an evergreen tree growing to a height of 10–20 m. The leaves are alternate, 10–30cm long, pinnate, with 3-11 leaflets, each leaflet 5–15cm wide and 3-10cm broad, with an entire margin. The flowers are small, 2.5–5mm, apetalous, discoidal, and borne in erect terminal panicles 15–30cm wide. Rambutan trees are either male (producing only staminate flowers and, hence, produce no fruit), female (producing flowers that are only functionally female), or hermaphroditic (producing flowers that are female with a small percentage of male flowers). The fruit is a round to oval drupe 3–6cm (rarely to 8cm) tall and 3-4cm broad, borne in a loose pendant cluster of 10-20 together. The leathery skin is reddish (rarely orange or yellow), and covered with fleshy pliable spines, hence the name rambutan, derived from the Malay word rambut which means hairs. The fruit flesh is translucent, whitish or very pale pink, with a sweet, mildly acidic flavour. The single seed is glossy brown, 2–3cm, with a white basal scar. The seed is soft and crunchy. They are mildly poisonous when raw, but may be cooked and eaten.

The tree reaches 50 to 80 ft (15-25 m) in height, has a straight trunk to 2 ft (60 cm) wide, and a dense, usually spreading crown. The evergreen leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, 2 3/4 to 12 in (7-30 cm) long, with reddish rachis, hairy when young, and 1 to 4 pairs of leaflets, subopposite or alternate, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, or rather obovate, sometimes oblique at the base; slightly leathery; yellowish-green to dark-green and somewhat dull on the upper surface, yellowish or bluish-green beneath; 2 to 8 in (5-20 cm) long, 1 to 4 1/3 in (2.5-11 cm) wide, the 6 to 15 pairs of principal veins prominent on the underside. The small, petalless flowers, of three kinds: males, hermaphrodite functioning as males, and hermaphrodite functioning as females, are borne in axillary or pseudo-terminal, much branched, hairy panicles. The fruit is ovoid, or ellipsoid, pinkish-red, bright-or deep-red, orange-red, maroon or dark-purple, yellowish-red, or all yellow or orange-yellow; 1 1/3 to 3 1/8 in (3.4-8 cm) long. Its thin, leathery rind is covered with tubercles from each of which extends a soft, fleshy, red, pinkish, or yellow spine 1/5 to 3/4 in (0.5-2 cm) long, the tips deciduous in some types. Within is the white or rose-tinted, translucent, juicy, acid, subacid or sweet flesh, 1/6 to 1/3 in (0.4-0.8 cm) thick, adhering more or less to the ovoid or oblong, somewhat flattened seed, which is 1 to 1 1/3 in (2.5-3.4 cm) long and 2/5 to 3/5 in (1-1.5 cm) wide. There may be 1 or 2 small undeveloped fruits nestled close to the stem of a mature fruit.