Nature Notes: The Longan Tree

I know this is going to sound odd, but I haven’t really noticed the front yard much, lately. Besides when the grass needs mowing. Which seems to be nearly all the time. I know, I know. I see it every day, leaving in the morning and coming home in the evening, but it’s not the same thing, really. It’s just that it gets so hot outside so early, these days, you really don’t want to spend more time out there than you have to .

Over the last few days, I’ve begun really looking at it again. Awhile back, I observed in other Nature Notes posts, that the fruit trees all seemed to be going wild with blooms and fruit, this year.

First came the mulberries, which I noted at the time were blooming and fruiting more than I had ever seen, since we put them in the ground. Well, since we got all that rain in June, they’ve nearly doubled in size, acquiring an almost weeping form. And they’re blooming and bearing fruit again, like nobody’s business!

Next were the mangoes – especially my Nam Doc Mais which had never bloomed or bore fruit since we planted them 5 and 6 years ago, respectively. Everyone in town remarked, this past winter, how all the mango trees seemed to be blooming more abundantly and energetically than anyone could remember, and the crops did not disappoint. There are still a few smaller fruits left on the trees, and we’re looking forward to them.

Now it’s the Longan tree’s turn. The longan is a close relative of the lychee, another native of Southeast Asia and China, that typically does pretty well here, in the tropics. Left untrimmed, a longan tree can grow to nearly 40 feet high. The fruit grows in clusters, each about the size of a marble or large globe grape, is translucent white, sweet, and juicy over a hard black seed, and is covered by a thin, leathery shell. We had a few fruit a couple of years after planting the tree next to the driveway, but nothing for the last five years or so. Oh, sure, I noticed that it bloomed a bit a few weeks ago, but didn’t really see much of anything until yesterday:

And there seems to be plenty more where that came from…

Last summer, I discovered a used and deserted nest, low in the branches of the longan. I speculated that it might have belonged to either cardinals or mockingbirds, both looking pretty similar and equally likely. So this spring, I occasionally examined the tree to see if there were any fresh signs of nest-building, but seeing none, I gave that up, too. Then, at the same time I discovered the clusters of fruit, yesterday, I saw this:

And I never saw a thing. I don’t know it’s current status, although I didn’t hear anything. I would have to get the tall stepstool to get a peek inside, but if it belonged to mockingbirds and was active, I imagine they would have let me know about it in no uncertain terms! I’ll bet if I do get a closer look, though, I’ll find a bunch of coco fibers from my backyard hanging planter in there. That planter was mighty popular a few weeks ago, attracting a female cardinal, a female red-bellied woodpecker, and a mockingbird simultaneously!

Funny, the things that go on right under your nose…