• The longan (龍眼)-translated literally as "dragon eye"[2]-is so named because it resembles an eyeball when its fruit is shelled (the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris). The seed is small, round and hard, and of an enamel-like, lacquered black.
• The fruit is sweet, juicy and succulent in superior agricultural varieties and, apart from being eaten fresh, is also often used in East Asiansoups, snacks, desserts, and sweet-and-sour foods, either fresh or dried, sometimes canned with syrup in supermarkets. The taste is quite different from lychees; while longan have a drier sweetness, lychees are often messily juicy with a more tropical, sour sweetness.

The longan (龍眼)-translated literally as "dragon eye"[2]-is so named because it resembles an eyeball when its fruit is shelled (the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris). The seed is small, round and hard, and of an enamel-like, lacquered black.