Seedling care

[The Seraph]

Oh, didn't realize this was bonsai! Lol. Bristlecone might actually be a good choice, because what usually kills them is when people have them in soil that's too rich and damp and they rot. Once you're stunting it anyway and it's in a soil that dries out quickly it will have a much better shot.

Okay then! I was actually posting pretty much the same thread on a bonsai forum and apparently they do not do well as humid climes kill Bristlecone very easily by promoting fungus growth. They apparently often do not live beyond five years outside of the Rockies. Any advice on the spruce?

 

[The Snark]

Bristlecone

To boldly live where no life form has gone before. Absofreakinglutely amazing tree. Just keep the roots bone dry and water diligently 1 inch of rain every year.
Fond fond memories of riding through their forest, Inyo White mountains. Like a trip through ancient history surrounded by the oldest living plants.

 

[The Snark]

Sunrise, Inyo Whites on the horizon. We had a Bristlecone a few miles from where that shot was taken. Perched on top of a jumble of rocks, the nearest dirt 30 feet away.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

Lamyai - brownish small (1" max) fruit, longan - yellow fruit up to 1 1/2", lychee - red fruit up to 2".

I am quite familiar with both longan and lychee, but do you know the scientific name for lamyai?

 

[The Snark]

I am quite familiar with both longan and lychee, but do you know the scientific name for lamyai?

If you have any idea I would very much like to know as well. Langsat, Longkon, Lanzone, Lansium. I feel certain it is not a relative, at least a close one, of the Longan as the wood of the tree displays the properties of Mahogany, Lansium Parasiticum.

I have also heard two rumors.
1. HRH King Bhumipol hybridized the Lamyai in his early botanical days at Chitrilada as a marginal land fast growing version of the longan, notably having a much thinner skin. Also, longan grow in thick bunches while lamyai fruiting isn't as tight a mass and tends to grow on longer stems.*
2. Some person unknown hybrized it and foisted it off through government contacts in a serious get rich quick operation where low or no interest rate loans for buying seedlings were widely available.
Or possibly a combination of the above 2 with the King following his make no waves/don't upset people, simply stepping back and letting the profiteers take over.
In any case, 'lamyai' flooded and still flood the market, and are easily noticed as different from longan to the buyers.

* It is noteworthy, King Bhumipol was an ardent naturalist and botanist who scoured the world over for trees and plants he could adapt to Thailand climates. I feel that he probably kept scrupulous records but they have very rarely emerged into the light of day. People took him at his word and had no interest in botanical names and hybridzing. Typical examples would be the Thai avocado, the local Arabica coffee, and the adapted form of the Descanso Rock Rose HRH introduced for erosion control. If there is documentation on his efforts with those and other plants, they haven't emerged from Chitrilada that I know of.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

Do you have any pictures for helping identification, such as close-up pictures of the bark, leaves, or fruit? I grow a lot of tropical fruit, so I might recognize it. If not, then I could try posting it to iNaturalist for identification (I would need a general location.)

 

[The Snark]

Do you have any pictures for helping identification, such as close-up pictures of the bark, leaves, or fruit? I grow a lot of tropical fruit, so I might recognize it. If not, then I could try posting it to iNaturalist for identification (I would need a general location.)

I can certainly get them. Have a lamyai and longan orchard across the road. Not fruit season however but I will try to get a good study of the bark and leaves and will add lychee for a comparison. I've also considered getting a specific gravity of the different woods.

 

[The Snark]

Do you have any pictures for helping identification, such as close-up pictures of the bark, leaves, or fruit?

One possible explanation I was given. Lamyai are longan, cloned from very fast growing root stock. Supposedly an enterprising entrepreneur cashing in on the longan market cloned tens of thousands. Longan fruit buyers have 4 grades of fruit, A through D. Lamyai can at best get grade C. Most are D.

 

[schmiggle]

Scientific name for Longan: Dimocarpus longan. It's in the same family as lychee, rambutan, etc. Don't think there's a distinction between Lamyai and Longan.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

I feel certain it is not a relative, at least a close one, of the Longan as the wood of the tree displays the properties of Mahogany, Lansium Parasiticum.

Scientific name for Longan: Dimocarpus longan. It's in the same family as lychee, rambutan, etc. Don't think there's a distinction between Lamyai and Longan.

I know the scientific name for longan.

I can certainly get them. Have a lamyai and longan orchard across the road. Not fruit season however but I will try to get a good study of the bark and leaves and will add lychee for a comparison. I've also considered getting a specific gravity of the different woods.

There is no need for lychee pictures (unless you really want to). I have several lychee trees.