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2. ORIGIN

The origin of longan is disputed. Whereas some authors limit the area of origin of longan to the mountain chain from Myanmar through Southern China, others extend it to southwest India and Sri Lanka, including the lowlands. In China, it has been suggested that the primary centre of origin of longan was Yunnan, and the secondary centres were Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces (Ke et al., 2000). This was based on studies made on the morphological characteristics of pollens of longan cultivars and their wild species in five zones in China as well as the analysis of botanical geography and evolution.


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