The only white longan tree in Vietnam

Tragedy about finding the way

Mr. Nguyen Tien Hung, Deputy Head of the Department of Gene Bank Management and Plant Resource Information (under the Center for Plant Resources - Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences) said: In 2013, Prof. Vietnamese plants) included in the List of endangered precious and rare plant varieties prioritized for protection under Decree 160 of white seed longan varieties. The strange thing is, if the normal longan only has black seeds, it has white seeds (white eyes) and even more interesting is that it was rumored that it was once a product to advance the king and used as medicine.

Prof. Long provided Mr. Hung and Dr. Nguyen Khac Quynh - a colleague the phone number of the person who led me to the actual white longan tree many years ago, opened an arduous and tragic search. They called and dated until they found out that he was suffering from terminal cancer, not in his hometown, but in Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, so he couldn't lead the way. He just described that white longan tree at Mrs. Dung's house at the entrance of Ha Xa church, Tan Le commune, Hung Ha district, Thai Binh province.

Both of them went to Hung Ha district, there was a brother in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development who said there was a strange longan tree near the hospital, all of them went down to see but it was not the white longan tree that they were looking for. The next day, they went to Tan Le commune (Hung Ha district), went to meet the director of the cooperative, he enthusiastically led them to look for them even though they did not know any information about the white longan tree. Remembering the words of the person who once brought Professor Long back, he is now in a cancer hospital, they went to Mrs. Dung's house near Ha Xa church.

But when I entered that area, I saw that there were no trees on either side of the road, but all houses were close together. Ask, it is true that there is a real lady named Dung, but when she entered the house, she saw that the trees in the garden were bare, the owner said that he had just cut down all the longan roots to get space as a rig to raise mutant orchids. Mr. Hung looked at Mr. Quynh, both of them were bored because of how much effort it took, could they go back to work? 

At this time, the new director of the cooperative thought that there was still a temple in the area where the monk was very diligent in collecting, grafting, and renovating longan trees, could there be this white seed longan tree? The monk very enthusiastically introduced to the group about the longan garden he worked hard to take care of, pruned, grafted and renovated… And most importantly, there was an ancient two-headed longan tree. . Seeing that its seeds are jet black is even more disappointing, but Mr. Hung's character does not give up easily.

Mr. Hung continued: "I went back to look it up in the database and found out that Mr. Vu Van Tung, Head of the Department of Insitu Conservation and Development of Genetic Resources of his Center, had gone to investigate about the white longan tree on the previous occasion. with Prof. Tran Dinh Long, but because it's been a long time, he can't remember the specifics, but only vaguely remembers that the white longan tree was planted near the water tank of a house with a yard, with a flower wall separating the garden from back. I took Mr. Tung back to Ha Xa, when he reached the church, he turned right as I thought. But I looked, looked around and asked an old man if there was a house. If there is a flower wall separating the garden from being built halfway, if there is a water tank like that, you can only go to one girl's house.

When we went in, we didn't see the flower wall separating the garden, poked all the labels around the house to try it, but it was just a black seed. In the house without adults, only one child said that his mother was going to the market. At that moment, she cycled home, heard our description, and exclaimed: "Oh, that's my father's house, Mr. Ha Dang Thanh, Mrs. Dung is my mother".

Instead of going to the church to turn left, before that, Mr. Tung turned right, so he looked around and couldn't find it. Now with correct directions, he quickly confirmed that it was the house, that water tank, that wall of flowers separating the yard, the white longan tree right behind that flower wall... It had been planted there for more than 40 years but still growing and developing well, the tree is about 7m high, the bark is rough, the trunk has many branches, and the leaves are luxuriant.

Just a tree in the garden

Ms. Dung said, in 1980, her husband was on an occasion to attend a training session on contract 10, when a brother in Hong Minh commune of the same district introduced a house with a white-seeded longan tree , which is very precious, so he asked for a few branches to return. planted, but in the end there was only one tree left. Her husband is a good farmer and has a profession of beekeeping. When we arrived, he was not at home because he had to bring the bees to collect honey in Son Duong district, Tuyen Quang province. It's not the right season, but the longan tree has temporary edible fruit, so she picked it up and invited us to taste it.

Contacted Mr. Ha Dang Thanh by phone, we learned that this variety of longan is difficult to root, it takes a few times to extract 3 branches, then he sends back 1 branch to the owner and asks for 2 branches to take home to plant. 1 tree is still alive today. He affirmed, the white seed longan that he ate in Hong Minh commune before was better than the one in his house now, possibly due to the different soil quality. Talking about the original longan tree in Hong Minh, he said that about 10 years after he took the branch back, it died for unknown reasons, and the branch he left behind for the owner also died.

In addition to the color of the seeds, white longan seeds, especially seeds, are smaller than regular longan seeds and are not as hard. It is a strange, rare but precious thing that needs to be redefined because the appearance of the fruit looks no different from a regular label. When eating, too, the taste and quality compared to other varieties of longan, longan, sugar, and incense of Hung Yen are not equal, only surpassing that of longan. Moreover, when eating the membrane of white longan seeds, it sticks back to the flesh of the fruit, not peeling, easy to peel like normal longan...

Mrs. Dung said, it is just a tree in the garden, for eating and giving, but not seeing anything special. In fact, her family does not propagate white seed widely because the needs of people in the area are not available. For things with unusual colors attached to the edible part such as fruit, it is commercial, while this is attached to the discarded part, which is the seed, so it is understandable that it is less popular.

His professional blood boiled, Mr. Tung immediately asked for a hand to hold a branch for an eye transplant, and at the same time took pictures of everything that could be captured. The brothers happily gave the owner 500,000 VND and then encouraged her not to cut it down to make a rig to raise mutant orchids according to the very popular movement at that time.

Also according to Prof. Tran Dinh Long's information, there is another white seed longan gene source in Bac Thuong village, Long Hung commune, Van Giang district, Hung Yen province. But unfortunately, when asked, that tree has been cut down, replaced with a new variety.

Currently, there have not been any in-depth studies to see if the white seed label has any different substances from the black seed and is valuable, but scientists still agree to put it on the List of endangered rare plant varieties. Priority protection is given to amending Decree 64 for the following reasons: Local breed, with only 1 individual remaining, at the level of being threatened with extinction; there have not been any previous conservation projects or programs. Scientific value: Good cold tolerance, white seeds, strange genes; Medical value: Dried white longan pulp is a tonic for the sick, sleep deprived, functional food.

"In terms of development, commercialization of white-seeded longan in Thai Binh is a bit difficult, but the value of preserving genetic diversity is obvious," said Dr. Nguyen Khac Quynh.

Source: Duong Dinh Tuong - nongnghiepviet.vn