Brewster Lychee

Litchi chinensis 'Brewster'

fruit

Brewster is the classic Florida lychee, a vigorous subtropical evergreen prized for its showy clusters of rosy, bumpy-skinned fruit. Peel the leathery shell and the translucent white flesh inside is juicy and sweet with a floral, grape-like perfume, wrapped around a single brown seed. Brewster is notably more resistant to the anthracnose that disfigures the fruit of some other lychees, though like all lychees it can bear unevenly from year to year. The tree itself is dense, rounded, and handsome with glossy leaves and coppery new growth, making a fine shade and specimen tree where winters are cool but frost-free.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Sweet Potato — A groundcover that mulches the lychees shallow roots and keeps weeds down without competing for light
• Comfrey — A deep-rooted companion ringed at the drip line, cut for a mineral-rich mulch over the surface roots
• Lemongrass — An aromatic clumping border on the same warm, well-drained site that helps deter some pests

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Lychee erinose mite →

  A serious pest that causes velvety leaf galls - inspect new flushes, prune out and destroy affected growth, and treat with sulfur or horticultural oil; start with clean nursery stock

• Lychee webworm →

  Caterpillars web flowers and shoots - prune out nests, encourage natural enemies, and use Bt during bloom flushes

• Scale →

  Plumose and other scales cause stem dieback - treat with horticultural oil and prune heavily infested wood

• Anthracnose →

  A fruit fungus worse in wet weather - grow resistant Brewster, prune for airflow, and remove mummified fruit

🌾 Harvest & storage

Air-layered or grafted lychees begin bearing in about 3 to 5 years, with fruit ripening from mid-May to early July. Lychees ripen only on the tree, so wait until the skin is fully red and the fruit is plump and slightly soft, then taste-test before stripping a cluster. Harvest by snipping the whole fruit-bearing stem a few inches behind the cluster. Eat fresh within days, refrigerate for up to a week or two, or peel and freeze the flesh.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

About 66 calories per 100 g with 1.3 g fiber, a high 71 mg vitamin C, 171 mg potassium, and copper and B vitamins. Lychees are juicy and low in fat, eaten fresh out of hand, added to fruit salads and drinks, or frozen for a cool treat.