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Family: Sapindaceae Genus: Litchi Species: chinensis (alternate Nephelium litchi) Lychees are widely grown between 10o and 25o latitude at lower elevations, particularly in Asia. The lychee is slow growing, reaching 30 to 100 feet in the tropics, but only 20 to 30 feet in California.
Family: Passifloraceae Genus: Passiflora Species: edulis Passion fruit is widely grown and valued throughout the tropics and subtropics. Most Passifloras are vines which can climb to 20 or 30 feet. The fruit varies in color from purple to yellow-orange and in shape from an egg to a tennis ball.
Family: Oxalidaceae Genus: Averrhoa Species: carambola The star fruit, or carambola, is a member of the oxalis family. Only one other species is commonly cultivated for its fruit, the less esteemed, more frost sensitive Averrhoa bilimbi.
Family: Rutacae Genus: Casimiroa Species: edulis The white sapote is a relative of citrus. However, it is too distant botanically for the fruit to resemble, be graft compatible, or hybridize with citrus.
Many deciduous varieties require more winter chilling than we get in Sunset zones 21-24, so will not flower and leaf out appropriately. These selected varieties have been shown to consistently produce in our mild winter areas.
Zone 18. Hilltops and Valley Floors of Interior Southern California Growing season: mid-Mar. through late Nov. Summers are hot and dry; rain comes in winter, when lows reach 28 degrees to 10 degrees F/-2 degrees to -12 degrees C. Plants from the Mediterranean and Near Eastern regions thrive here.
Deciduous fruits and nuts drop their leaves and produce new leaves and flowers in response to temperature. The temperature to which they respond is measured in chilling hours. For use in selecting fruit varieties we count each hour below 45 degrees F as a chilling hour.
