Editing Longan (section)

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Longan seed.jpg|thumb|Seed]]
The longan is believed to originate from the mountain range between [[Myanmar]] and southern China. Other reported origins include Indonesia, India, [[Sri Lanka]], [[upper Myanmar]], north Thailand, [[Kampuchea]] (more commonly known as Cambodia), north [[Vietnam]] and [[New Guinea]].<ref name="TK Lim">{{Cite book |title=Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants: Volume 6, Fruits |last=Lim |first=T.K. |chapter=Dimocarpus longan subsp. longan var. longan|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2013 |isbn=978-94-007-5628-1 |pages=18–29}}</ref>

Its earliest record of existence draws back to the [[Han dynasty]] in 200 [[BCE]]. The emperor had demanded lychee and longan trees to be planted in his palace gardens in [[Shaanxi]], but the plants failed. Four hundred years later, longan trees flourished in other parts of China like [[Fujian]] and [[Guangdong]], where longan production soon became an industry.<ref name="BPU">{{Cite book|title=Litchi and Longan: Botany, Production and Uses| last1=Menzel| first1=C.|last2=Waite |first2=G.K. |last3=Mitra |first3=S.K. |publisher=CAB International| year=2005| isbn=9781845930226|via=ProQuest ebrary}}</ref>

Later on, due to immigration and the growing demand for nostalgic foods, the longan tree was officially introduced to Australia in the mid-1800s, Thailand in the late-1800s, and Hawaii and Florida in the 1900s. The warm, sandy-soiled conditions allowed for the easy growth of longan trees. This jump-started the longan industry in these locations.<ref name="BPU" />

Despite its long success in China, the longan is considered to be a relatively new fruit to the world. It has only been acknowledged outside of China in the last 250 years.<ref name="BPU" /> The first European acknowledgment of the fruit was recorded by [[João de Loureiro]], a Portuguese Jesuit botanist, in 1790. The first entry resides in his collection of works, ''Flora Cochinchinensis''.<ref name="Lour1790" /><ref name="Fruiting pattern" />

=== Subspecies ===
[[Plants of the World Online]] lists:<ref>{{cite web |title=Dimocarpus longan Lour. &#124; Plants of the World Online &#124; Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:782795-1 |website=Plants of the World Online}}</ref>
* ''D. longan'' var. ''echinatus'' Leenhouts (Borneo, Philippines)
* ''D. longan'' var. ''longetiolatus'' Leenhouts (Viet Nam)
* ''D. longan'' subsp. ''malesianus'' Leenh. (widespread SE Asia)
* ''D. longan'' var. ''obtusus'' (Pierre) Leenh. (Indo-China)